


The Proposals Of A Fool In Love

by Writerofthelorde



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Babysitting, Bickering, Big Brother Zuko, Boys Kissing, Comfort, Declarations Of Love, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Dorks, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Family, Fear, Flirting, Fluff, Fools, Friendship/Love, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I Love You, I'm not scared of growing older, INSOGO (IYABMS), Idiots in Love, Kissing, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mischief, Mutual Idiocy, Parent AU, Parenthood, Parents, Picnics, Playing with kids, Slice of Life, Sokka is good with kids, Teasing, The Aquarium, True Love, Zuko is good with kids, a little bit, babysitting au, caring for a child, children wish, dealing with their shitty pasts, goofballs, grossly in love, kid wish, playing around, soft sokka, the beach, the zoo, they are so damn in love y'all, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 35,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27961775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerofthelorde/pseuds/Writerofthelorde
Summary: After pining over each other for 6 years they had recently finally gotten together. It was great; they already lived together, and did their groceries together, and babysat Kiyi together and... well, they had been doing everything together. To be honest, they had been living like a married couple for the past two years. And you know what, maybe it was time, Sokka thought, that they actually tied the knot.A story about Sokka trying his best to propose to Zuko while they're babysitting Kiyi, Zuko's 5-year-old half-sister, and taking her to fun places.This is a continuation of I'm Not Scared Of Growing Older (If You Are By My Side), but it can be read separately if you don't want to read a 44k slow burn.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 70
Kudos: 106





	1. The Zoo

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh so it took me a while, laptop issues and all, but here we are! The "bonus chapter" for I'm Not Scared that turned into a 20k+ story =) I hope you like it! <3

After the burst-out confessions, the tears and the long kissing sessions, things finally calmed down. Their times of intense yearning and aching were over. They did still yearn for each other, while at work, or visiting family, but it was much calmer in both their hearts now that they knew the other felt the same.

They very easily fell into a loving life together. Since they had already been living together and did just about everything together, they just added a whole bunch more kissing. And hand-holding. And even more cuddling. But overall, nothing much changed.

The biggest change, the one they didn’t want to mention too often, was that they both were finally feeling calm and at peace for the first time in years. For the first time since they had been children, in fact. With each other and alone. They were not only working towards good things, but they were also finally _living_ good things.

They peacefully spent the next months living life like they had already been living, plus some (a lot of) kisses here and there. They often fell asleep in each other’s arms. They held hands whenever they could. And they realised, as they were doing it, that they had basically been living like a married couple all this time. 

The only things that _had_ changed were more intimate than what they were used to. More undeniably romantic, rather than wishful thinking.

At first, they didn’t mention it to each other, that they had been living like a married couple for the past two years. Too scared that it would put pressure on their relationship. Just because they had subconsciously lived like a married couple, didn’t mean that they were actually ready for marriage already. They had only just gotten together after years of pining. So, they kept it to themselves. For a while.

Sokka ended up mentioning it when they had been dating a little over two months, because well… the guy went fast sometimes. Zuko knew that. Sokka knew that Zuko knew that. And so, after 9 weeks of dating each other, Sokka ~~finally~~ mentioned it.

They were sitting outside in the sun, enjoying some tea and holding hands on the table.

“So, we’ve basically been living like a married couple all this time, huh?” Sokka said before taking a sip of his highly sugared tea.

“Yeah, I guess we have.” Zuko squeezed his hand softly. He had realised it too so it wasn’t exactly a surprise.

Sokka, in turn, shrugged casually. “I guess that means we should get married.”

In reply Zuko laughed warmly; that wasn’t a surprise either. The idea of getting married though, that was ridiculous. He wanted it, but the idea of doing it now? Absolutely hilarious.

Sokka looked up at him all serious. He knew why Zuko was laughing, why he wasn’t taking him seriously, but if he was being honest, he’d do it on the spot. If he had a ring he’d been getting down on one knee immediately.

The older guy’s eyes wandered over his face, scanning his expression and his body language. “Wait, you’re being serious?”

Sokka’s smile was cute and determined. “Yes. We've basically been acting married this whole time. Think of how we’ve lived since the beginning..! We’ve been all over each other from the start. Even before I moved in, we were always close and teasing and touching each other. We make food together, we bake together, we do the dishes together, the groceries, the cleaning… I could go on.”

Zuko put his cup back down. “Sokka, we’ve been dating for two months.”

“So?”

“So, not yet.” Zuko was shaking his head with a smile. He was in love with an idiot.

Sokka smirked at him. “…but you want to?”

Zuko let go of his boyfriend’s hand and used his now free hand to pull his chair closer, moving Sokka within kissing reach.

He tilted his head with a single finger and looked at him with love-filled eyes. “I’ve been in love with you for six years, I think you know the answer.”

Sokka beamed at him with so much happiness Zuko couldn’t help himself when he kissed him softly. 

This was the first time they kissed out in public and though they had shared plenty of almost-kisses in public, it was still scary.

Zuko focused on the feeling of his lips and the warmth of his breath and allowed himself to linger. He wanted this; it didn’t matter what strangers on the street thought of them.

“I love you,” Zuko whispered. After the two months, he still hadn’t gotten enough of saying those words, or the reaction it got him.

Sokka’s smile became shy and his eyes glistened with bittersweet happiness. It was a look only Zuko ever got to see. It was something that could only be created by those specific words, said by that one specific person.

“I love you, too baby.” 

They shared another sweet kiss before Sokka looked at his boyfriend up close and through hooded eyes.

“I will marry you one day. You just wait.”

Zuko shook his head with a smile, their noses rubbing against each other.

“I have to be a part of that, you idiot.”

Who leant in next was unclear, but they were kissing again. It was deep and slow, and if anyone had seen them, they would have probably told them to get a room.

Sokka backed off with impossibly even more love in his eyes than before.

“You will marry me one day. I will make sure of that.” 

And making sure he did. He knew it was too soon. He knew he was a tad too eager. But they had been in love for so long. The only reason they hadn’t fallen out of love with each other was because they had pretty much already been living their dream lives together all that time. 

They had already been living together, they had already been hugging and cuddling loads. They had already been kissing cheeks and making breakfast, lunch and dinner at each other’s sides. They had already been living a domestic dream. Doing groceries together, going on dinner “dates” together, doing each other’s laundry.

They had been doing it all. Sokka was certain it was the only reason he hadn’t lost his mind. The only reason he hadn’t suffered a heartbreak and was forced to move on. There was nothing to move on from when you’re already living in domestic bliss.

Feeding Zuko a bite over his shoulder as Zuko nuzzled his neck. Keeping each other warm on the couch during the cold winters. Singing songs as they were cleaning the apartment together. Playing with dirty clothes in their underwear while doing laundry together. They had been doing it all. 

The memories still felt bittersweet to them both.

Their longing and downright yearning had been painful in the end. If either of them had to be honest about it, they would have to admit that they had been on their breaking point before they got together. 

They had been on the verge of giving in to the heartbreak and living a miserable life. 

At the same time though, those memories were also starting to be really funny. The obliviousness of them both was absolutely ridiculous. The fact that they had been so blind to each other’s feelings, but also to the way they were living… it was truly something else.

So even after only two months of dating, Sokka felt like he was ready for the next step. They had wasted six years and yet had still loved each other through them all. It was time now. 

He knew deep down that it was ridiculous, but he had been on cloud nine for the past months and he knew he was the one. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of their lives being idiots together. As husbands. As fathers.

And so, even after Zuko had laughed at him, he still got to planning their wedding. In secret, of course. 

He wouldn’t ask him again for several months. It was for the best for both of them. Zuko would undoubtedly turn him down again if he asked too soon, and he didn’t want to put any pressure on him. He certainly didn’t want to make him feel like he was going to hurt him if he said no again.

The answer had to be a solid yes from the heart, or it wasn’t going to happen. Maybe he just had to test the waters a little bit.

Sokka spent months planning things but, the idiot that he was, forgot to plan an actual proposal.

What ended up happening was that a few months later, he had become so ready to get married, that his initial plan of waiting was falling apart. This whole idea of waiting and building him up to it was going to take _too_ damn long. He was starting to feel too needy to be able to wait much longer. Besides… what if he waited too long and he turned him down?

That thought was ridiculous of course but Sokka’s mind had gotten used to the uncertainty and fear that he had felt for six years. It was almost hard to move on and truly believe that things were better now. To believe that he now had what he had always longed for.

The day he finally burst from anticipation was when Zuko and him were taking Kiyi to the zoo.

They had been in the zoo all day. It had been fantastic. Kiyi was so excited about everything she kept holding their hands and dragging them along to the next animal. They made up songs about animals and Sokka told her a whole bunch of fun facts about each animal.

He had done his research, the absolute madman. Zuko had been forced to deal with a researching Sokka for weeks. He would constantly tell Zuko the facts and other titbits he found online and then he would ask him just how interesting they had been.

Zuko had a hard time being honest because Sokka was just _so_ damn cute. No matter how boring or questionable the ‘facts’ were, they would just fill his heart with warmth simply because they were coming from his boyfriend.

Was Kiyi going to love those facts? Probably not all of them. Was he going to teach her things that were downright wrong? Potentially. But Zuko just couldn’t get himself to say anything but positive words to him in those moments. 

He just loved him too much to have a single functioning brain cell. 

It was clear, a lot of the time, that Sokka had the brain cell between the two of them. Ever since they had started dating Zuko’s love had just been multiplied by a thousand. He felt like a different person, so light and happy and filled with warmth and love. It was so unlike who he used to be.

Sometimes he would get emotional thinking about where he had come from… that hell… and where he was now…. floating around on cloud nine… no.. it was better than cloud nine… it was something he never thought he’d have. Ever.

In those moments Sokka would hold him and hum songs into his hair. He’d rub circles on his back and press kisses to his temple. He’d tell him he loved him and that he was worthy of every ounce of his love. 

Sokka had his breakdowns too. Sometimes he would remember how bad he used to feel, how much he used to hate who he was and how he would think he would never be good enough, and therefore would never be happy.

They would hold each other tight and Zuko would tell him what a great person he had become. He would tell him how much he loved him and why. 

They were each other’s rock. As they had been for the past six years. The fact that they took care of each other so well, was another reason for Sokka to move so fast. They were just meant for each other.

At this moment, in the zoo, they felt blessed for having each other, for having a life that they loved, and for having Kiyi to take on trips. It had been too long since the last time they saw her, and especially too long since they’d had her over for more than a few hours.

They had been spending all day in the zoo. They had eaten too much junk food, Kiyi had eaten too much candy, she had gotten too many expensive things from the shop and they had smiled so much their cheeks were hurting. 

They were waiting outside the women’s bathroom. Kiyi had said she was old enough to go by herself. They weren’t worried. Even if she ended up peeing all over her fabulous safari outfit, they’d just put her into clean clothes.

“She’s taking a long time in there,” Sokka noted.

“You know how she is.” Zuko slid along the wall till his shoulder touched Sokka’s. 

Sokka kissed the side of his head. “I do.”

He was instantly reminded of a certain thing he had been planning for months now. Should he ask him here? Well, not in the bathroom here, but in the zoo here.

He thought of how much he wanted to marry him and found himself feeling more emotional than planned.

They were just perfect for each other okay? He wanted this so badly.

Zuko could feel the tension in his body and looked up questioningly.

“You know she’ll be alright, right?”

The younger man smiled at his boyfriend and then kissed him with a finger under his chin. 

“That’s not what I’m worried about I love you.” He said in a single breath. “Can I kiss you again?” He knew what the answer would be. He knew Zuko could never say no to a kiss. But he also knew that he didn’t like to be seen kissing. He didn’t mind being openly in love in public in general, but the thought of people specifically looking at them? That was still scary.

Zuko frowned. “You know I love you too, right?”

Sokka chuckled. “Yes, I know that my dear idiot.”

Zuko snorted, and without answering just kissed him instead. Their kiss was soft and lingering. Their love for each other felt even stronger on days like these. Seeing the other be amazing with kids just solidified their desire to have kids with each other.

When Kiyi finally came out of the bathroom they were still lingering close to each other. Their noses were brushing as they whispered sweet words to each other’s lips. 

Just as they were melting into another kiss, she decided to announce herself. 

“I’m done!” 

The young men closed their eyes and then started to quietly giggle. Even when they were together, she was still interrupting them.

Sokka stuck his tongue out at her as soon as he saw her smirk. He quickly turned around and planted a big kiss on his lips. 

“There. You can’t stop me from kissing him anymore.”

Kiyi just shrugged and skipped away. 

The young men shared a look and an eye roll before hurrying after her.

Kiyi instantly decided it was a game and started running even faster. She ran and ran until she reached the penguin enclosure.

Once the young men had spotted the penguins they could finally slow down. Sokka upon reaching Kiyi immediately started his list of fun facts about penguins in general. After a few (too many) minutes he switched to facts about these penguins in front of them specifically. 

“Oh, and did you know..! Since penguins can be gay, this zoo in particular actually celebrates their gay weddings! They hold a ceremony for couples that have been together for more than two years in a row and they even throw the visitors a party.”

“They do?” Zuko asked, instantly curious again.

Sokka’s gaze immediately moved to Zuko, and it was intense.

“They do. They celebrate gay penguin weddings…” He pulled his lower lip between his teeth and looked him up and down. “…and gay human weddings…”

He quickly turned back to Kiyi to tell her more fun facts, acting as though he didn’t just drop some very specific information on his boyfriend. The young girl must be really smart, or perhaps mischievous, because the moment Sokka picked her up off the ground she whispered in his ear all too loudly, “Are you going to marry Zuzu?”

“I do hope so, my dear. One day.” He glanced over at him. “Soon.”

Kiyi wiggled out of his arms to run over to a zookeeper and bother him with a bunch of questions Sokka, unfortunately, didn’t know the answers to. Sokka shot the man an apologetic look before feeling Zuko slip his hand into his grip.

He turned to face him and was instantly met by a quick peck on the lips. It made him smile in a heartbeat.

“What’s that for?”

“For being ridiculous.”

“Hm, I should be ridiculous more often then.”

Zuko kissed him again, a little more harshly. “Please don’t. You’re already plenty ridiculous as it is.”

Sokka pretended to take offence but Zuko pulled him even closer.

“What is going on in your head?” His gaze was fond, and he was shaking his head slightly. Why would he tell his little sister they would get married soon?

Sokka shuffled even closer and titled his head as he took in his beautiful boyfriend’s face.

“We should get married.” 

Zuko’s fond headshakes grew bigger and faster as he chuckled.

“One day, you idiot.” 

He looked past Sokka to check on Kiyi, just to see her feeding a penguin with the zookeeper. He turned back to Sokka and kissed him a little more deeply this time. Knowing that he could take a moment without endangering Kiyi, he gave himself fully to the kiss. 

“One day.” He repeated himself. More for himself than for Sokka.

He wanted this too. He’d do it right there and then, but that wouldn’t be right. They would regret that later. It had only been 6 months. He wanted to wear something special, and he knew Sokka did too. Their friends needed to be there. They would need a photographer. Toph needed time to craft their rings. 

One day. Soon. Maybe. _Hopefully_.

Sokka smiled flirtily. “Why not now?”

“We’d regret it.”

“Why?”

Zuko couldn’t look him in the eye when he answered him. “Because it’s too soon… and besides… the numbers aren’t right…”

Sokka pulled a confused but fond face. He didn’t mind this rejection. He knew they’d get married one day. He just simply didn’t want to wait any longer. They had waited long enough.

“Why aren’t the numbers right?” He asked while he played with one of his boyfriend’s fingers.

“Because…” Zuko shrugged. He knew Sokka was about to laugh at him. “…it took us 6 years… and we’ve been together for 6 months… and today is the 6th…”

“Babe..! Don’t tell me you believe in that sort of thing..!”

“Why not? Is that a deal-breaker?”

“Oh definitely……….. not. I love every part of you. If that includes a part of you that believes our wedding could summon Satan…. Then so be it. It’s good to know.”

Zuko rolled his eyes at him and smooched his lips once more. He was being ridiculous after all.

“I don’t believe Satan would show up if we got married today, I just think… I just think we’d regret that number later. Why don’t we make the number something nice? It will be something we will remember for the rest of our lives.”

Sokka chuckled with love. “I know babe, I’m just teasing.”

They shared another quick kiss before joining Kiyi and the zookeeper. 

Sokka would get his yes eventually. He just had to work on his proposal. Maybe it was best to just mention the option of marriage every now and then. Maybe that would calm Zuko’s mind.

As soon as they got home that evening he started working on a plan. A solid, _nothing can go wrong_ , kind of a plan. 

A pretty good, _I don’t think anything can go wrong_ , plan.

hopefully.


	2. The Aquarium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys take Kiyi to the local aquarium and Kiyi is absolutely obsessed out of her mind. The boys are barely able to handle so much cuteness in one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I'm so excited to post this one! I had a blast writing this 💖

The next time Sokka mentioned getting married was a month later when they were on another outing with Kiyi.

They were at the aquarium, showing Kiyi the octopi. She was _obsessed_ with them. Ever since she saw one at the zoo she had been telling the boys all about them. And so, when it came to deciding where they were taking her next, the answer was obvious.

They had already spent hours at the aquarium. Much longer than they had expected. She was obsessed with the fish and the crabs and snails and it was truly something else to see her get so excited about it all.

This time, instead of Sokka telling her fun facts, it was Kiyi telling them fun facts. She had asked Ursa to look up videos about them all. She had asked for books, for toys, for posters, everything that was about sea critters. 

Sokka had given Zuko looks of, _I hope our kid will be like that too_ , all day. Every single time Zuko had to roll his eyes to not give away how emotional the thought of that made him. 

Every time Sokka told Kiyi a stupid joke about the fishes he would feel his heart clench. He wondered sometimes, why loving had to ache so much. How sometimes he felt so much love for Sokka it felt like it would choke him someday. How it felt like he needed to absolutely squeeze him flat from how much he loved him.

And those were good pains… There was also always the bad pain too. The, _if I lose him I will lose myself too_ , kind of pain. The, _if he breaks up with me I will never be okay again_ , kind of anxiety. 

But, as if he could sense it, in those moments Sokka would always grin at him, squeeze his hand, and kiss his cheek. He would ground him, and remind him that he wasn’t going anywhere. He would look him in the eyes and whisper sweet promises. He’d kiss his lips and then his nose and then his forehead. He’d tell him he’s beautiful, kind and amazing.

He didn’t quite know why loving so much led his brain into anxiety, but he thought it was best not to question it too much. The more he thought about it the worse it got. He didn’t want to go back to therapy. He wanted to save up money for the kid they kept talking about. That was going to take a while.

“What are you thinking about?” Sokka asked with a grin.

“Saving money.”

“Oh,” Sokka said so audibly disappointed that Zuko couldn’t help but snort.

“For a child.”

“…oh.” He was gaping at him for much too long, but he just couldn’t help it. Zuko was the one who was constantly saying he wanted to take things slow. He didn’t want to rush things because they would regret it when they were older. 

As if they weren’t full-grown adults who had wasted six whole years on pining and aching. As if they weren’t already filled with regret of not making a move. Of not taking a leap of faith. Of not believing their gut feeling that getting together was the right thing. As if they wouldn’t have been married by now if they had made a move six years ago. Or hell, one year ago even. If they had gotten together any earlier than they had, they would have been married by now. They would have been signing adoption papers by now.

“Well now _you’re_ lost in your head, we must be terribly boring for Kiyi.”

Sokka smiled guiltily. “Sorry.”

His boyfriend just pulled him in for a small kiss and then pulled him along to his little sister. 

“Anyway, I was thinking of putting aside money. For a kid. Because kids are so expensive and especially adopting. It takes so much money to do that in the first place and then you have to get a room ready and you have to buy clothes and toys and-” Sokka was kissing him before he could continue. 

“I… couldn’t possibly love you any more right now.”

Zuko once again rolled his eyes to hide the fact that he was emotional. 

“Yeah. Same.” He choked out.

Sokka just grinned at him. He loved having that effect on him. It killed all his insecurities. It cancelled out all of his regrets. This right here, was what made it worth it. Worth the wait. Worth the yearning. Worth the aching and anxiety. 

It was even, worth the nights in which his aching heart had hurt so bad he had cried. The nights in which he was so sure Zuko would never love him that he would beat himself up for ever falling for him in the first place. The nights in which he talked himself into letting go of all his feelings and prioritize their friendship. The nights in which he broke his own heart and became determined to move on, just to fall hard and fast again the very next morning.

This look, the choking up, the inability to say the words back, they made it all worth it. So he grinned. He grinned and he held him tight. He kissed him as soon as Zuko smiled back. He kissed him hard and then lingered until Kiyi got impatient. 

This was not the place or the time to get emotional about their love life. No actually, it was lunchtime, and Kiyi was hungry.

She was pulling on Zuko’s leg to try to get him to move.

“One moment, sweetie.” He said without even looking at her. He was too busy finishing up his moment with the love of his life.

Sokka caressed both his cheeks, rubbed their noses together and then pressed a small smooch to his lips. 

“Ready?”

Zuko gave him a nod. “Ready.”

Hand in hand the three made their way down to the restaurant. It kind of felt like they were wearing a sign that said something silly because the people around them were looking at them funny.

Zuko tried his best to ignore all the eyes on them and just sat down at a table as Sokka and Kiyi got their food. 

He decided to text his mom about some things on his mind, just so he could let it out and then move on. Ursa would know how to respond. Not that Sokka didn’t, but Sokka just responded to things with kindness, love and affection, and sometimes those things would just make it worse in the end. 

Especially when the issue at hand was about his regrets. His regrets of not mentioning his feelings years ago. His regrets of believing his anxiety all those years. And, of course, his inner fight between his heart and his head. His heart telling him to think of marriage and kids and moving to an actual house versus his head telling him it was all too soon. Moving too fast was going to break their relationship. At least, that’s what his head told him.

Kiyi pulled him out of his thoughts as she started walking a toy octopus over his arm. 

“Huh, where did you get that?”

Sokka shrugged from behind her. “It was next to the register.”

“I thought we were going to start saving up?” 

“I’m not going to withhold her from fun toys and things..! Who would I be if I did that? We’d be her stupid family..! We can _not_ be part of her stupid family, babe.”

Zuko chuckled and ran a hand through Kiyi’s hair. 

“Yeah,” He agreed, “that’s fair.”

When they finally arrived at the octopus exhibit that afternoon, they heaved a sigh of relief when Kiyi found someone else to talk to. Don’t get me wrong, they loved her and her passionate rambling very much, it just… was a bit much if it lasted literal hours.

There had been a young woman, who was very passionate about octopi, standing right next to them as Kiyi had started rambling once again. The young woman and she hit it off immediately. 

They had been chatting for the past 30 minutes or so. It was very cute to witness, but Sokka was on a mission and he had just realized a perfect segway. The girls were talking about the suction cups of the one on the window and Sokka turned to face Zuko with a smug face.

“These rings look so cool up close.” He turned to dramatically examine them. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in them, he definitely was but, there were more important matters at hand.

Zuko stepped closer and placed a hand on his back. Like he had started doing after about a month of them dating.

The smug man turned his face slightly and looked his boyfriend in the eye. “Do you think one of those is a wedding ring?”

“What do you mea- oh my god.” Zuko closed his eyes and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I thought being ridiculous got me a smooch?” He pouted dramatically.

Zuko rolled his eyes and pecked his lips. “You don’t have to be ridiculous to get kissed though. You can just ask.”

“Oh, I know.” He kissed his cheek. “But sometimes I just have wedding rings on my mind.”

Zuko rolled his eyes again as he leant into the lips on his cheek. 

Sokka continued to press small kisses to his cheek. “I have them on my mind all the time, to be honest. Toph would craft them, obviously.” He said between kisses.

Zuko hummed in agreement.

“…and honestly, crafting those takes a while... and so does designing them… so really, we ought to start doing that soon.”

This time Zuko moved away to send him a look and to shake his head with a smile. “You’re so cute, you know that?”

“You think that’s going to get me flustered or something? Saying things like that just makes me want to marry you even more.”

“My answer is still the same, babe.” He pulled him close enough for their lips to hover in front of each other. “One day.”

Sokka closed his eyes to the sound of the sweet promise. It didn’t hurt him, no it actually made him feel fantastic. It was a yes, just not yet.

Zuko could see the effect it had on him and couldn’t help whispering the words again.

“One day, my love.”

Sokka’s eyes opened as he sucked in a shuddering breath. “Kiss me.”

Zuko could never say no to a request like that. He was still getting used to it all, but especially the tone and the look in his eyes that came along with those words… It was just truly something else. 

So he kissed him. He kissed him properly right in the middle of the aquarium. For a moment the world faded around them. It was just the two of them and their promise of a future together. It was bliss.

When she saw them Kiyi smugly called out an “Ew!” 

The young lady she was talking to tried to shush her, but it was already too late.

They backed away with a laugh.

“Why ew? Can’t I kiss my boyfriend?” Zuko asked his little sister with a hand on his heart and a shocked expression.

“Hm….. no. I want to kiss Sokka..!”

They both gasped. 

“You can’t kiss him, he’s _my_ boyfriend..!” He had a hard time holding in his laughter.

Kiyi ran over and clung onto Sokka’s side. Sokka picked her up and teasingly looked Zuko in the eye as he kissed her cheek.

Zuko gasped loudly for dramatic effect and Kiyi just stuck her tongue out at him.

“You can’t want to kiss him like I do…! He’s your brother-in-law..! Or do you not want him to be your brother-in-law anymore?”

Kiyi froze, her eyes widened and she instantly tried to wiggle her way out of his arms.

“No! He is my brother-in-law..!”

Sokka pulled an impossibly smug face at Zuko. “You know… for me to actually be her brother-in-law… we’d hav-”

“Oh stop it you..!” His cheeks were warmer than he liked and unfortunately, or perhaps very, fortunately, even in the dim aquarium light Sokka could still see it. 

He always loved kissing his blushing cheeks so Zuko knew what was coming next. A soft press of lips on one cheek, another quick peck, and then a turning of his head and two more kisses on his other side too.

“I love you.” He whispered to his skin.

They said it too often, they knew that, but after all this time of waiting and then waiting, even more, they just couldn’t help themselves.

“One day,” Zuko promised him once more.

The next thing they arrived at was the feel area. The place where the kids got to stick their hands in the water and harass the animals. It was both fun and uncomfortable. Sometimes they would see the kids absolutely torturing a starfish or another poor critter, and they’d have a hard time not telling the kids to stop. 

It was just sad to watch these poor animals getting treated like this. 

“That scene in Finding Dory really ruined this for me.”

“Yeah, same here. I can’t believe I hadn’t realised how stressful this must be for these animals until I saw that…” Zuko replied as he was gently petting one of the starfish. It was unclear if it liked it or not.

Sokka kept pulling Kiyi’s hands away from eyes and mouths and claws.

“Sweetie, please be careful.”

“Why don’t you just leave the kids alone?” A father asked with an annoyed tone. “This is the twentieth time you’ve told her to be careful. Just let her feel, she’ll be fine.”

“ _She_ will be fine, yes,” Sokka replied, immediately filled with irritation. Zuko had to put a hand on his back to keep him grounded. He sighed to calm himself and then continued slightly less irritated. 

“I don’t want to teach the kids that it’s okay to hurt animals. These are all living creatures in here, I don’t want her to hurt them. I want her to know that these critters can get hurt if she pokes them too hard or in the wrong place. Excuse me for wanting to teach her to be kind to all living things.”

He shot the man a serious look before turning back to the little girl and smiling at her. 

The man scoffed and made a puking sound when Zuko pulled his boyfriend closer. “Right. You’re really trying to teach her the right things… you’re not even keeping your disgusting lifestyle to yourself. You’re exposing a child to that.. that.. gross stuff.”

“Man, shut up.” Sokka sighed. He was so done with people like him. 

Thankfully, Kiyi knew what the man was talking about and she felt extremely protective of her favourite boys. And so, she turned around and hung her arms around his neck. She looked at the man and stuck out her tongue.

“You’re stupid.” She spat at him. It was barely an insult, but the way she had said it made it sound like the worst thing she could possibly say to him.

Sokka couldn’t help himself when he chuckled. He pulled the girl closer to his chest before making her look him in the eye. “Kiyi. You can’t say that.”

“But he was being mean..!” She protested.

“He was. But there’s no need to bring ourselves down to his level.” The man grumbled beside them, his anger was clearly only getting worse, but they ignored him.

Kiyi thought for a moment. Sokka wasn’t sure if she understood what he had meant, but after a few seconds, she nodded and unclung herself from his neck.

She moved to say goodbye to all the critters she had touched and then grabbed a hand of each of the boys and pulled them along.

“Come on, let’s go somewhere else.” She said sternly.

The two young men looked at each other with surprised and impressed looks. She really just made a very grownup decision.

When the little girl came to a stop in the gift shop Zuko crouched down and took a hold of both of her hands.

“Sweetie, that was a very grown-up thing you did there. Walking away without creating a fight. I’m really proud of you.” His smile and tone were so genuine the poor girl didn’t know what to do. It was nice and all to be told you did something right, but she didn’t quite understand why her decision had been so right. 

So she smiled, shrugged and hugged her big brother. “Thanks! Can I buy a toy?”

Sokka chuckled and pulled her into his arms next.

“You have your priorities straight I see.”

“You don’t.” She chimed before skipping away.

The boys looked at each other with surprised faces until they both burst out laughing.

“I mean, technically she’s not wrong!” Zuko laughed.

Sokka tried to continue to laugh but the sound of Zuko’s laugh was just so rare and beautiful he couldn’t help but quiet down just to be able to hear it better.

“Stop that.” Zuko tried to shove him away.

“Stop what?” 

“That look you’re giving me..!”

“What look?” Sokka continued to tease as he stepped closer and pulled him back into his arms. “I’m not giving you a look at all.”

Zuko rolled his eyes and was already leaning in for a quick kiss. They kind of had a deal after all; if Sokka was being ridiculous he just had to kiss him. It was really quite simple.

“Gu-huys..!” Kiyi whined from the next aisle. 

Sokka couldn’t help himself when he nuzzled his nose against Zuko’s.

“I think she’s calling us from a certain aisle..” He winked. “remember that? In the grocery store?”

Zuko turned red in an instant. He definitely did remember that. Sokka had been walking him down the soup aisle arm in arm... and all he could think about was walking down a very different aisle… Both of them dressed in gorgeous suits, Kiyi in a glittery dress, their eyes glistening with tears and love…

“Hm… no I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Sokka snorted. “Yes you do, idiot.”

Zuko just pulled him in for another very quick peck, and then let him go. “That’s a conversation for another time.”

Thankfully for the little girl, the last few hours of the day went by without them being _too_ in love. They happily walked around the gift shop, trying to find something cute and affordable to buy for her. They had already bought her a toy around lunch, but Sokka had paid for that one so Zuko promised he’d buy her something else. 

Kiyi, of course, did not protest. Two gifts were more than she had been hoping for.

When they had finally figured out what to buy they went to get an early dinner and then ice cream after.

They had an absolute blast hanging out with her. It was just so much fun to treat her to almost everything she wanted. Sure, they were spending too much money on things she’d inevitably break or lose… but that wasn’t the point. The point was to grant her happiness. Albeit sometimes temporarily, it was still happiness. They were still making memories she would keep with her for the rest of her life.

And for now, that was enough for the two young men. The idea of having a lasting impact on Kiyi was already making them emotional just thinking about it. They couldn’t help but imagine how wonderful and rewarding it would be with their own little one. 

Zuko nodded to himself, as Sokka was driving them home. He would get what they both wanted.

One day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think 💖 More soon! 🥰


	3. The Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next time Sokka decided to talk weddings was when they were taking Kiyi to the beach. It was fun... and terrifying.

The next time Sokka tried to ask the question was at the beach. Kiyi had asked if she could go to the beach with them ever since she had learned to swim. Zuko, with only one functioning eye, didn’t like the beach at all. So he had been unsure about it for weeks, months even. But after Sokka reassured him he'd look after him just about a hundred times, he managed to change his mind.

It had only been about two weeks since their last outing with the little girl, but she had been asking about it since before they got together. Zuko had said no every single time. She kept being more and more disappointed that her brother didn’t want to do her favourite thing with her, and it hurt him, but he was just too scared.

On this day though, he was going to be happy and confident. For her. He didn’t want her to know that the worst thing that ever happened to him was the reason he didn’t want to go to the beach with her. So, he was here, confident, smiling, …and clinging onto Sokka.

“Come on Zuzu! I want to feel the water!” Kiyi yelled over her shoulder as she entered the sandy part of the beach.

“You go first, sweetie, I’ll be right behind you..!” He grimaced at Sokka.

“Baby, you know I’m a master swimmer, things will be okay.”

Zuko laughed at that. “I don’t know about the master part, but I know you can swim somewhat well.”

“Oh, come on  _ Zuzu _ , I grew up next to the water. If  _ I’m _ not a master I don’t know who is.”

Zuko shot him a look of dramatic disbelief. 

“You grew up next to freezing cold water, I hardly believe you swam a lot.”

“Okay okay, but you know my dad’s a lifeguard. In fact, I texted him and he’s working today, so you’ll have two masters watching over you and Kiyi.”

Zuko sighed, he was still worried. He appreciated Sokka’s efforts but his anxiety was just a tad too strong.

Sokka squeezed his hand. “All jokes aside, you’ll be safe. I promise.”

Zuko nodded. “Thanks, hun.” He pursed his lips and turned his face to him, asking for a kiss. 

Sokka pressed a quick kiss on his lips before stopping them both.

"Are you sure you're okay with this? We can still leave if you want."

"Of course we can't leave, look at her..! She's already having a blast."

"We can though. We can always explain to her that you're uncomfortable. We can always leave."

Zuko groaned. "Ugh."

"Why ugh?"

"You're too nice. Just tell me to suck it up."

Sokka took a step back in surprise. "Never..! Your comfort is important to me. I'm not some dick who doesn't take your feelings seriously. You're important to me. All of you."

Zuko grumbled as he tried to force his emotions back down.

"Thanks, I guess."

Sokka didn't take offence. He knew he hated feeling strong emotions in public. So he just pulled him close and did his usual little trail of kisses. From his forehead, to his nose, down to his lips.

He smiled at him and waited for Zuko to nod.

"Let's go get her."

He pecked his lips one last time before running after Kiyi. He was glad it was such a low tide because he still had plenty of time to get to her before she reached the water. 

He ran up to her and picked her up with a wild “Aargh!”

The little girl screamed at the top of her lungs. 

“Well, I’m deaf now,” Sokka complained with a laugh. He loved her so much.

Kiyi wiggled around in his arms until Sokka turned her around properly. “That’s your fault.”

Sokka gasped dramatically. “My fault?! How dare you say that..!”

Kiyi was about to tell him exactly how when she spotted a familiar face.

“Uncle ‘koda!!” 

She threw her hands up and slapped Sokka in the face.

Hakoda came jogging over with a grimace. 

“Are you okay, son?”

Sokka waved it off as soon as Kiyi had clawed her way out of his arms and into Hakoda’s. She clung to his neck and almost choked the man.

Zuko soon joined them by their side and he proudly took a hold of Sokka's hand. He wanted everyone around them to know they were together. He had mostly crossed the point of being terrified of the public. Mostly. They hadn’t run into many homophobes yet. That, and his confidence was building; he wanted a whole life with Sokka, and he wanted everyone to know it. 

Well, maybe  _ wanted  _ wasn’t the right word. He  _ needed  _ it. Because he wanted to be confident and proud before they actually started thinking about kids. He didn’t want to bother a child with his own discomfort and anxiety. That wasn’t fair. He was feeling better about it though, thankfully. 

“Hello, sir.” He spoke politely. 

Fathers however…. Those were terrifying… Even worse with Sokka because he had two. He didn’t spot the other one anywhere near them though. Thankfully.

Hakoda shook his head with a laugh. “Son. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Hakoda? You are my son…” He looked at Sokka with an expression he couldn’t place. “… _ in-law _ …” He looked back at Zuko with a smile. “…after all. So why would you call me sir?”

“Right, sir- I uh I mean Ha…koda…” 

Zuko still felt uncertain about calling him anything but sir. The man was so comfortable and at ease and wholeheartedly kind, it just…. unsettled him. He wasn’t sure why.

Kiyi was clinging to his neck like her life depended on it and Hakoda clearly loved it. He was good with kids, just like his son. There was truly no reason to fear him. 

Perhaps it was because the man was so different from his own father that it just all felt off. Like somewhere inside of him he thought all fathers were supposed to be assholes. He tried his best not to think about that though, because that thought led to a floodgate of anxiety about himself as a father. It made him think he should  _ never  _ be a father on the off chance it would turn him into his own abusive father. He never wanted to do that to his own children. 

Thankfully Hakoda knew all about his past and knew exactly when to distract him from his spiralling thoughts.

“So how are my favourite young men?”

Sokka raised an eyebrow at his dad. “Favorite? Wait till I tell Aang about that.”

“Oh, shut it,” Hakoda said with a soft punch to the shoulder. “Two of my favourites then.”

“I’m good,” He turned to face his boyfriend, “how are you, babe?” 

Zuko shrugged. “I’m okay.”

“You’re such a bad liar.” Sokka chuckled before kissing his cheek. “He’s terrified.” He pulled him closer by his waist and Hakoda was smiling warmly at them. It was clear he loved and supported them. It was clear he wanted them to be happy, and yet Zuko couldn’t shake the feeling of distrust. Perhaps it was because he already had anxiety about their surroundings and that just made his other anxieties worse…

Whatever it was, he was trying his hardest to ignore it. That was not a conversation he was going to have with his father… in-law… sort of… almost… Soon..?

The four of them continued to chat until Kiyi had enough of waiting. Zuko took her from Hakoda’s arms and put her down on the sand. 

“Let’s go put our stuff down, huh?” He said reaching out a hand. Kiyi took it and happily pulled him along to the perfect spot. 

“I’ll give you your boyfriend back in a moment,” Hakoda promised. There was a tone to his voice he couldn’t place.

He smiled back. “Sure thing. See you later!” He waved awkwardly and then let himself get dragged away. He had to shake his head to stop thinking about that tone of his voice. It was just his anxiety, nothing more… 

Hakoda’s gaze became serious the moment he looked back at his son.

“Get your hooks in him already.”

Sokka sighed and laughed at the same time. “I’ve been trying..! He just thinks it’s too soon.”

Hakoda’s eyes widened. If his eyes could’ve left their sockets they would have in that moment. “Too soon?! Six years is too soon?” He was so loud that Kiyi and Zuko had heard him. He tried his best to ignore it. Maybe that had been the tone..? Was he disappointed in him because he wouldn’t get married to his son yet?

“Dad,” Sokka said seriously, quiet enough so Zuko couldn’t hear him. “I’m going to mention it again today.”

“Mention? You’re not going to get down on one knee?”

“I just don’t want to go for the whole thing and officially ask him just for him to have to gently let me down. That wouldn’t be good for either of us.”

Hakoda chuckled. “God, you’re such an adult now.” 

Sokka laughed with him. “Hardly.”

His father continued to laugh for a moment before nodding firmly. “Okay, son. Keep me posted.”

Sokka nodded. “Will do. Shouldn’t you get back to work?”

He shook his head. “I’m on a break. I have a couple more minutes.”

“Are you coming to sit with us?”

“Nah, I think you need to go calm your boyfriend. He looks stressed.”

“Oh, you know how he is with beaches… He’s terrified. I promised him we’d look after him and Kiyi.”

“Did you tell him you’re a master swimmer?”

“I did..!” He said loudly before pouting. “He laughed at me..!”

Hakoda chuckled and squeezed his son’s shoulder. “He’ll learn eventually. For now, go be there for him.”

“Hey, I’m always there for him..!”

“I know, I know. I taught you well, my boy.” He gave him a gentle shove in the right direction. “Go. Make him realise you’re marriage material.”

Sokka shook his head with a snort, said goodbye to his dad and then moved over to Zuko and his little sister.

He sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. He kissed his cheek and leant against his head. 

“You’ll be okay.”

“Is… Is it okay if I stay here? I’ll look after our stuff.”

“Yes of course. Are you sure though? I could just stay close to you? I could hold your hand. Or I could carry you on my back.”

Zuko chuckled and placed his hand on Sokka’s opposite cheek, pressing him closer. 

“It’s fine. I can watch.”

After a few more minutes of Sokka promising he’d keep him safe they came to an agreement; Kiyi and Sokka went swimming, Zuko watched their stuff and watched the two of them play with love-filled anxiety.

He loved them very much but… he didn’t dare join them. First of all, he didn’t want to take off his shirt and show the world his other scars too, and second of all, he was terrified of being in the water with one functioning eye and about 1,5 function ears. He had waterproof hearing aids, but they hadn’t brought back all of his hearing and in a place as noisy as this, that wasn’t a good idea. He would just hear noise and nothing else.

He was okay though, just looking at them was fun too. It was perhaps a little bit lonely, especially since so far their outings with Kiyi had been a lot of fun together as a happy little family, and now he was… alone... But Sokka kept grinning in his direction after every stupid thing he did to get Kiyi to laugh, and that helped a little bit.

When they returned, they ate lunch together on their towels. They chatted and joked and laughed and Zuko felt himself getting emotional. Maybe it was because he had been feeling a tad lonely earlier. But as they were sitting there having a fantastic time, it hit him just how happy he was. 

Not only was he having a blast again, just like he had come to expect of their hangouts with Kiyi, but he was also just feeling so blessed that he could just have this whenever he wanted to. He lived with his boyfriend, his mother, step-dad and half-sister lived close by and he could have this every single weekend if he wanted to.

He felt so happy and so blessed in the moment, that it made him realise how he hadn’t felt this way... ever… 

This was everything he could have ever hoped for. Everything he did always hope for. But at the same time, everything he thought he would never have.

As soon as Sokka noticed the look on his face he placed his hand on top of Zuko’s.

“You okay there, babe?”

He looked up with tears in his eyes. “I love you.”

Sokka nodded with a sad smile. “I know baby, I love you too.”

Zuko leant in for a kiss, and Sokka, instead of just leaning in, crawled over to him and wrapped his arms around his neck. He kissed him deeply, fully expecting Kiyi to interrupt them with an  _ ew  _ or odd kissing sounds. She didn’t though. Maybe she knew they needed this moment. Or maybe she was just distracted by a bird. Who knew.

(It was the bird).

When Sokka finally backed off he giggled softly. It was one of Zuko’s favourite sounds. Sokka was a happy and smiley person. He laughed easily and a lot. But there was one thing he barely ever did, and that was giggling. Actual, proper, giggling.

He didn’t believe in angels, but sometimes he thought that if they existed maybe Sokka would be one. His giggles sure sounded angelic.

Or maybe he was just in love. 

“Whoops.” Sokka continued to giggle as if Zuko hadn’t just drifted off into a daydream about an angelic boyfriend. “You’re covered in sand.” He tried to wipe it off his cheek but alas, he just brushed more sand into his hair.

He decided to ignore it, and looked his boyfriend in the eye intently. “You deserve this.”

“I deserve sand on my face and in my hair?” Zuko chuckled.

Sokka knew what he was doing, and he knew why too. And so, he leant in, pressed the softest kiss to his lips and then rubbed their noses together. Sand fell off as he did so.

“You deserve to be happy. You deserve to love your life. You deserve to have me and Kiyi and all our fun memories.”

Zuko shivered at those words. He hated how Sokka had to remind him of those things over and over but, every time he heard them he believed it a little bit more. It was a small victory. He was so thankful for that. He couldn’t wait to let it all go and be happy in peace. 

“…and you deserve…” He pecked his lips. “…every kiss…” Another peck. “...and more.” He winked at him, and then quickly got pulled into another kiss by a blushing boyfriend.

They kissed passionately for a moment. They couldn’t help themselves. 

They knew where they were though, and more importantly, who they were there with. And so, they backed away all too soon, with blushes and dopey smiles.

When they turned to face Kiyi she was just happily eating her grapes and feeding a small bird in front of her.

They watched her for a moment. She talked to the little bird as she fed it the crumbs of her sandwich. 

Zuko slowly turned his head to face Sokka again. 

“I want kids.”

Sokka looked back with a grin. “Marry me first.”

Zuko couldn’t help himself when he rolled his eyes and let out a sigh like he usually would. He wanted it too. He  _ wanted  _ to get married  _ so much _ , and then he could have at least one kid with him, and he wanted that sooner rather than later. He just felt conflicted because they had been going so slow and then suddenly they were going so fast.

“You know my answer.” He whispered, his eyes shining.

Sokka couldn’t stand those whispers in the best way possible. They were probably the best thing he could ever hear. Those taken aback, lost in thought, and deeply in love kind of whispers. They were everything. He just couldn’t help but kiss him again. Softly. Slowly. Lingering for as long as he deemed acceptable.

When he broke the kiss, he let his lips hover right in front of Zuko’s. Just to emphasize his next words. You know the answer, Zuko had said.

“I do.” He whispered to those lips, knowing full well what it would do to him.

Zuko closed his eyes and sucked in a shaky breath. 

_ Oof _ . How much longer did he have to wait? How much longer until he was sure they wouldn’t regret it later? Would they regret it if he married him right then and there?

Sokka moved away with a smug face. His boyfriend slowly opened his eyes just to sigh and roll his eyes at him.

“You did that on purpose.”

Sokka just shrugged. “Maybe so.”

“Stop quoting memes.” Zuko shoved him away. Gently, of course.

“Why?” He leant right back.

“You’re going to  _ turn into _ a meme at some point.”

“Would that make me the meme of your dreams?”

Zuko shot him an annoyed look and rolled his eyes even more dramatically than before. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling though. He tried with all his might, but his lips just kept curling up more and more.

“I can’t believe I’m in love with you.” He tried to sound grossed out. He failed miserably.

“Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself.” The younger man said with a happy sigh.

Zuko just shook his head and leant in for another quick kiss.

“You’re ridiculous.”

Sokka shrugged. “I try my best.”

“Only because it makes me kiss you.” 

Sokka looked away and pulled a thoughtful face. “Hm….Yep.”

“Are you two done? I want to go play!” Kiyi whined loudly from next to them.

The young men laughed and quickly started cleaning up their things. 

“Yes, sorry!”

“Yes yes, we’re coming.” 

Sokka shoved their leftovers into their basket before grabbing his backpack and pulling out a bunch of things. A shovel, a rake, a bucket, all kinds of shapes to fill up. All child-sized of course.

“Do you want to build a castle?” He sang to her. 

Zuko groaned. “Thanks for that. Now I have Frozen in my head.”

“You’re welcome!” He singsonged with a wink.

Zuko shook his head as he grabbed one of the shovels. He was going to love today for the rest of his life.

They spent an hour building a giant sandcastle. Every time they thought it was finished Kiyi would put two fingers to her chin, look at it thoughtfully and then decide it needed more.

Every now and then she would leave to go get some shells for windows and doors and the boys would take a moment to be gross and in love. 

Kiyi’s words. Not mine.

At one point Sokka was making a trench around the castle and Zuko had bravely opted to go get some water to put into it. It was his way of still being able to say he felt the water without having to go swimming at all.

When he came back Sokka was looking up at him with mischievous eyes. 

“Do you think…” He started, gesturing to the trench. “If we handed Toph a photo of this… that she could make a nice ring for one of us?”

Zuko was absolutely speechless. He stared blankly at his boyfriend for a solid minute before sighing his heaviest sigh yet. 

“Are you saying you want a sandcastle wedding ring?” 

Sokka blinked at him, faking surprise.

“Who said anything about  _ wedding  _ rings? I just said ring, nothing more.”

The older of the two, handed the bucket of water to his sister and then dropped to his knees in front of Sokka. 

“You are, without a doubt, the most ridiculous person I’ve ever met.” He pinched Sokka’s chin, just because he couldn’t help himself, and then used that chin to pull him in for a kiss.

Sokka shrugged immediately after the kiss. “I was just saying… She needs some kind of an idea to make the rings special. We can’t just tell her to do whatever.”

“We’ll talk about that with her. When it’s time.”

“But maybe she does need us to make a mold or something? Who knows.. maybe she needs a fantastic mold like this trench right here..!” 

Zuko shook his head with love-filled eyes, but decided to let the subject go. Instead, he just looked at his little sister and pulled a face at her.

“Soso is a weirdo, don’t you think so Kiyi?”

“Yes!” She called out enthusiastically. “And I  _ love  _ him!” She raised her chin proudly.

Neither of the grown-ups were sure if she was making fun of Zuko for being done with Sokka, or making fun of Sokka for being absurd. It didn’t really matter though, because all three of them were laughing.

They were laughing and happy, and the young men’s hearts were warmed and growing in size. This was what they wanted. These silly moments right here.

When they locked eyes they could see it in the other’s gaze. So it only made sense for them to kiss again. Maybe it was a bit much. Maybe they were obviously in the first year of their relationship. It didn’t really matter. They were enjoying it and that was more than either of them had believed they would have. 

When it was time to pack up their things and go to the car they felt the mood switch to a little bit more of a sombre one. 

They weren’t sure why. It wasn’t like they were never going to do this again. The beach was relatively close, they could borrow Kiyi at almost any given time… there really wasn’t any reason to be sad. Except that they were.

So when Kiyi, upon dropping her things in the trunk of the car, suddenly decided to mention she had promised to bring home some shells… well, let’s just say it took them less than five seconds to decide to stay longer.

Zuko made a quick call to his mother and all she did was laugh and tell them to have fun.

“Alright. Let’s go for a walk then. No sitting down, no building a sandcastle, just looking for shells. Deal?”

“Deal!” Both Kiyi and Sokka exclaimed. 

Kiyi shot her Soso a look of disbelief. She was clearly copying her big brother but it just made Sokka love her even more. He ruffled her hair and picked her up to kiss her cheek, before putting her down and letting her run back to the beach.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” He asked as he slipped his hand in Zuko’s.

He shrugged and nodded at the same time. “Just keep holding my hand.”

Sokka squeezed their fingers together tightly and then brought their hands up to his lips for a quick kiss. “I promise.”

Zuko snorted. “Geez, you don’t have to make such a big deal out of it.”

“It’s a big deal to you, so it’s a big deal to me.”

Zuko tried to scoff but it just came out just as emotional as he was feeling.

His boyfriend bumped shoulders with him as they walked. 

“I’m really proud of you.”

“Hm.” Was the only sound Zuko could force out of his tightened throat. Damn that boy for making him feel things.

They walked back down to the beach, chose a direction to walk in and then started walking on a sandbar. It wasn’t much of a bar, but they still had to walk through some shallow water to get there. It was a big step for Zuko, but as long as he could keep on his clothes and didn’t have to go swimming, he knew he’d be alright. 

They spent another hour getting absolutely toasted from the sun. Thankfully they had remembered to put extra sunscreen on Kiyi, but unfortunately, they had forgotten about themselves. 

Sokka seemed fine for the most part, he was browner but not burned. Zuko however… he was growing redder by the second. He didn’t mind though, it was just his arms and the front of his legs, and he was actually kind of looking forward to Sokka demanding to help him take care of it. He loved how careful and soft he was when he took care of him. 

“Hey look! This shell has funny lines!” Kiyi said as she showed her big brother a nice looking shell.

“I think he’s lost in his head again, sweetie,” Sokka said when her brother didn’t respond. He carefully elbowed him in his side.

Zuko blinked awake. “Huh?” 

Sokka motioned to the little girl, who immediately grinned again and showed the pretty shell.

“Oh wow, that’s beautiful! That looks like a lightning whelk.” 

She handed it to her brother.

“Here, you keep it. It looks like your scar.”

Zuko laughed. “Didn’t I just say that it was beautiful?”

“Yeah. It is.” She nodded. To her, nothing odd was said there. She turned around and continued to look for shells as if she hadn’t just said the sweetest thing.

“Oh.” He uttered quietly. He couldn’t help but touch his face. “Th-thanks.”

Sokka was looking at him in the soft light of the sunset with a tilted head and a gentle smile tugging at his lips. 

“Yeah… She’s right…” He reached out and let his fingers drift over the outer lines of his scar. “Beautiful.”

“Sokka..!” He swallowed heavily. “The fact that she says things like that in public is one thing, she doesn’t know what it does, but you..?”

Sokka’s smile didn’t falter. “What? I can’t admire you in public? I can’t tell you a truthful thing in public? I can’t agree with your little sister in public?”

Zuko rolled his eyes and stopped them both. “Not unless you kiss me.”

“Oh. Well, don’t mind if I do..!” He immediately pulled him in by his face and pecked his lips several times before lingering on the last one.

His gaze roamed over his face up close. “You’re beautiful.”

“Actually,  _ you’re  _ beautiful.” Zuko returned easily. He still had to get used to how easily he could just say that.

“You’re  _ both  _ beautiful, now let’s go! I want more shells for mommy!” Kiyi was stood in front of them with both her hands on her hips and a stern expression on her face.

The grown-ups burst out laughing, and both stepped over and leant down to kiss a cheek. 

“Don’t worry sweetie, you’re beautiful too.”

She stuck her chin in the air proudly and then ran away with a gasp. She had found another pretty shell.

The boys laughed and continued their beach walk hand in hand. 

“Hey, what would you do….” Sokka started as he picked up a shell. “...if I just handed you a shell with a ring in it?”

Zuko snorted so intensely he had to cough afterwards. 

“I would throw it back into the ocean.”

Sokka clutched his chest with a theatrical gasp. “You wouldn’t... Tell me you wouldn’t…”

“Why? Did you? Did you put an actual wedding ring into a shell just to pick it up and show it to me?” 

“I didn’t but now that I’m thinking about it, that would be a really cute proposal!”

Zuko pulled Sokka in by a hip and a cheek. “I love you dearly, but that would be ridiculous. Even for your standards.”

Sokka contemplated fighting him on it. He had literally considered doing that today. But then again, he didn’t want Zuko to know his full plan, so he just kissed him instead. 

He’d have to think his plan over again. He couldn’t plan a whole proposal just for Zuko to think it’s a joke again. Especially if he would just throw the ring away..!

They continued to walk until they had a bag full of shells and the sun was close to disappearing into the ocean. It was probably the most romantic thing they had done in a while.

Sokka pulled Zuko down to the ground and hung an arm around his shoulders, leaning on him heavily.

“Let’s watch the sunset.”

Kiyi sat down in front of them, leaning back against them both.

“Only if we can take a selfie.” She declared.

The boys couldn’t say no to that; they’d love a photo of this moment too. They took about twenty.

It only took a minute or two for the sun to disappear completely. It was beautiful and romantic and they felt so much love it was almost overwhelming.

They held their favourite little girl close as well as each other, and breathed in the moment.

“We should do this more often.”

“We should.” Sokka agreed. They definitely should.

They got lost in each other’s eyes for a moment. A moment that was allowed to last minutes only because Kiyi had fallen asleep against them.

Sokka ended up picking her up and carrying her to the car. It was a very cute look, this limp, absolutely passed out girl, hanging over his shoulder. Zuko couldn’t help but trail behind him just so he could take a photo of it and send it to his mom.

Later on, when they were in the car, he took a photo of her when she was strapped in her seat too, and sent it to their mom as well.

As much as his mother always rolled her eyes and sighed at all these photos with hearts and heart eyes, he knew she loved them all.

He loved them a lot himself too, and he knew Sokka did too, so he saved them all in his special folder of all his favourite moments. He absolutely could not wait till the moment that folder was filled to the brim with happy memories.

It already was though, he still had photos of Kiyi as a baby in there. There was one in particular that he had looked at a thousand times. It was a photo of Sokka, holding a newborn Kiyi with tears in his eyes. He had been so damn in love with him that day. And he still was.

He wondered if Sokka’s face would look the same while holding their own little baby. Maybe it would be the same…. maybe it would look even happier and filled with even more love…

He couldn’t wait to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was such a fun one to write! I really hope you liked it! 🥰 Please let me know your thoughts 💖 They give me life and make me write more


	4. The Playground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only two weeks later Sokka got another chance to propose. This time it was when they were babysitting Kiyi for an entire weekend. They played games with her, took her to the park, and even to an indoor playground. It was absolute chaos and oh so much fun. Despite Sokka having to deal with some insecurities, they probably made their favourite memories that weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is a bit of a silly one! I like to imagine their lives would be super silly sometimes, just because they're so happy. So here were are. Enjoy 🥰

The next time Sokka mentioned getting married was only two weeks later. Ursa and Noren had planned a weekend away for just the two of them and the boys had promised to look after Kiyi.

The first day they took her to a park by a lake where she could swim and run around and there were even boats they could rent. Not that they would.. for Zuko’s sake.. but still.

This was not the day he mentioned marriage just yet, but it was a day that gave him another reminder of how badly he wanted that life with Zuko. How badly he wanted to get married and cry as he told him his sappy and, hopefully, hilarious vows. He hadn’t written them yet. 

Or how badly he wanted to talk about whether they were adopting, if it’d be a local baby or one from further away or if they were going to find a surrogate mother. Or how badly he wanted to celebrate Father’s Day in a happy light and not one where Zuko was sad until they visited Hakoda and Bato, and the men tried to joke Zuko into happiness. 

He knew his dads meant well but it always ended up being more awkward than anything else.

This particular day in the park made him realize all sorts of things, not just future things. He also realized how the early summer light was absolutely gorgeous on Zuko. Or how he would sometimes catch Zuko taking in the sun with a soft smile, thankfully he wasn’t that sunburnt anymore, and how that was the cutest thing ever. Then again, everything Zuko did was either the most gorgeous or the cutest thing ever.

“Soso! You’re dreaming again..!” 

Sokka shook his head and quickly turned away from his boyfriend to face Kiyi. 

“Sorry sweetie pie, your big brother just looks so gorgeous in this light.”

Zuko snorted to hide how the word gorgeous still flustered him. He never thought the word gorgeous belonged anywhere near a description of him, and yet it was Sokka’s favourite word to describe any part of him. Including his scars. He wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to that.

“I thought you said I was always gorgeous?” He teased, just so he wouldn’t give himself away.

“Take the compliment you piece of…” He looked him up and down. “…absolute… sugary deliciousness.”

Zuko groaned and tried to shove Sokka away, but Sokka just took a hold of that hand and used it to pull him closer. He pecked his lips and then beamed at Kiyi.

“I’m all yours. What were you trying to tell me before I got distracted by this absolute tall glass of ginger ale?”

Both Kiyi and her big brother snorted at him. 

“Ginger ale?!” Kiyi exclaimed, on the verge of laughing hysterically.

“Yeah,” Sokka said as if it was obvious. “He is tasty, has a very rooted way of living, like ginger, there’s a sweet spice to him, like ginger, and every single glance at him feels like the world’s most satisfying drink. When I look at him I feel both drunk on his intoxicating beauty, and cleansed by his hydrating gaze.”

Kiyi gaped at him with a frown. She didn’t understand a single word he just said.

Zuko, on the other hand, snorted before pulling Sokka closer as he shook his head.

“You’re so full of shit.” He whispered before kissing him harshly.

It didn’t last long because the moment their lips met, Kiyi’s gasp registered. He backed away with wide eyes.

“Ooohhh! Zuzu said shit!!” She was staring at him with a hand in front of her mouth. She had never heard her brother curse before. He had very carefully made sure of that.

Sokka bit his lip and quietly snickered. 

Zuko tried to pull his best disapproving look but just ended up laughing with him.

“You’re so ridiculous, Sokka, I love you so much. I can’t believe that I love an idiot but shit…” He winked at Kiyi, now aware that he said it. “…I love you so, so much you complete and utter buffoon.”

Sokka still wasn’t used to his declarations of love. Especially not the ones that just burst out like he had no control over them. Did he truly love him so much that he couldn’t hold it in? Was he bursting with love? For  _ him _ ? Of all people… Of all the options he had…  _ Him _ .

He pulled him in by his neck and kissed him desperately. 

“I love you, I love you, I love you.” He kissed his lips, the tip of his nose, and then a trail over to his ear. He whispered to him quietly, attempting a private moment, “I’ll never get enough of those words. Hearing them and saying them.”

“Yeah…” Zuko agreed breathily.

When the two of them finally got themselves to get back in the moment and actually interact with Kiyi, she pointed a finger at him. 

“You said a bad word, Zuzu. I’m going to tell mom.”

“Well you said it too, so I’d have to tell mom that too.”

“Well, no…. I just said that you said shit, but I didn’t say shit-oh…” Her eyes widened. “Oh no…” she whispered to herself. 

The boys shared a look of smiles and heart-eyes before turning back to the little girl.

“How about this…” Her big brother started. “How about you don’t tell mom about me, and I won’t tell her about you.”

“Hmmm… okay… but only if I can get fries for dinner!”

Both young men laughed at that. They had already planned to eat fries.

Zuko pretended to hesitate, and Kiyi quickly exclaimed they didn’t have to be the good fries, they could be any fries! 

Zuko finally agreed and then pulled his little sister into his arms.

“I love you too, Kiyi.”

She hugged him tightly and Sokka soon joined them.

“Yes, we both love you too, sweetie.”

They sat there hugging each other for a while, like a little family. They get a little bit emotional about it. So emotional in fact that Sokka forgets to bring up marriage at all.

So instead, Sokka was forced to mention it on day two. They go to an indoor playground and it’s chaos.

The playground they were going to that day was somewhere a little further away. Zuko had done his research and this one seemed to be the safest.

The drive there was their regular chaotic singing mess. Sokka actually joined in this time but, since he didn’t have to drive this time, he did also film the siblings for a little while. And of course, he sent the video to Ursa.

**Sokka to Ursa: I’m the luckiest man alive! 😍😍😍😍😍😍**

Ursa just replied with an eye-roll emoji. She was happy for them but sometimes the boys were maybe just a tad too in love. Don’t get me wrong, it was cute, it was just that sometimes it was so sweet it was like freshly made caramel. 

At the playground they let Kiyi do her thing for a while. They just sat down at a table with a drink, holding hands and chatting about nothing as they watched her play. It was cute; she kept coming back to tell them about something she had found or a friend she had made.

They had arrived a little bit late in the day though, and so after a while her new friends slowly but surely started to go home. It was fine at first, she could play with the other kids… but after a while, they had all left and she didn’t feel like making new friends again with the kids that had just arrived.

“Will you come with me?” She asked with puppy dog eyes.

Zuko caressed her cheek. “There’s no need for those eyes, we would have joined you either way.” He looked over at Sokka. “At least, I will.”

Sokka grinned at the siblings. “Of course I’m coming too. They have lockers right?”

Kiyi pointed in the direction of the lockers and waited impatiently for the boys to pack their things.

“How about a bathroom break first?” 

Kiyi put her hands on her hips and gave him an annoyed look. “I can go alone, Zuzu. I’m six now, remember?”

“Wow..! Hold it with the sass young lady, I have to go too.” 

She blinked at him, her sass slowly fading. “Oh…” She shrugged. “Okay.” She grabbed his hand and started pulling him away.

Zuko resisted just long enough to let Sokka kiss him quickly.

We’ll be right back, okay?”

“Sure sweetie, I’ll be here.”

Sokka put their stuff in a locker with a blush. He hadn’t called him sweetie since that first  _ accidental  _ time. Before they were a thing. He loved the pet name dearly but at the same time it was one that was just so soft and tender, it felt too intimate to be out in the open.

He felt like it should be reserved for mornings where the other doesn’t want to wake up and you kiss their cheek softly and call them sweetie until they wake up. It should be reserved for candlelit dates and private nights and vulnerable moments. He loved casual babes, darlings and honeys. Those were great words to call each other when others could hear them. Sweetie was for moments of vulnerable love.

And so when they returned and he locked eyes with Zuko, he blushed even more. 

The look of surprise Zuko gave him in reply made things even worse, and then when he stepped over and put his hands on his hips he felt like he might crumble a bit. 

“Hey sweetie,” Zuko uttered quietly. 

So, he had been thinking about it too, huh?

“H-hey.”

Zuko was leaning closer and he couldn’t handle it. Not in a place as public as this. He wanted privacy for moments like this, yet they seemed to have these moments in public the most. He looked over at Kiyi to get away from the intensity of the moment and because of that Zuko kissed his cheek. 

It’s not what he was going for, but he wasn’t going to complain. His cheek was fantastic to kiss. That lovely warm and soft patch of skin was perfect for his lips.

Sokka dared a glance at his boyfriend, who instantly leant in and kissed the corner of his mouth. Sokka was thankfully quickly distracted enough to push aside his flustered state. He let him lean in and kiss his lips softly too.

“Hah, reverse first kiss.” He uttered.

“Hm?”

“I did the same as you did for our first, real, kiss.” He moved his hand up and pressed a single finger to his cheek, before moving on. “Cheek… corner… lips.” He pulled his finger down, dragging Sokka’s lip down with it.

“Zuzu..! Soso...! Can we go yet?” Kiyi whined from next to them.

“You’re right, we should stop. Sorry, sweetie.” 

Upon hearing the word again, they both looked at each other. How come one word could have two vastly different vibes? It’s either a normal thing you say to kids or an utterly tender thing you say to your partner.

Sokka took a hold of both their hands and squeezed Kiyi’s to make her look up. 

“Sorry we’re no fun anymore.”

“You’re still fun..! Just also more annoying.”

The two adults couldn’t help but laugh at that. They knew it was true so there really was no use in going against it. And so, they stayed quiet and joined her in the soft, bouncy contraption. 

As they climbed their way through a bunch of obstacles, neither of the young adults wanted to admit that it was actually a lot of fun. They chased her around, jumped on the trampolines, slipped down the slippery stairs several times, went down several slides, and avoided one really steep one.

They played for a long time, just simply goofing around and chasing each other, but after a while of avoiding the one area, Kiyi had enough. She wanted to go down the big steep slide and her favourite grownups were going to join her if they wanted to or not.

“I really don’t think I can do this,” Sokka whispered to his boyfriend.

“Oh come on, you can’t tell me you’re afraid of heights..!”

“It’s not the height I can’t stand, it’s how steep it is.” He tugged on a strand of hair with a shaky hand, a thing he only ever did when he was really nervous. “I’ve seen several kids get hurt on that slide today..!”

Zuko took a hold of both of his hands. “Babe, have you seen other kids get hurt too?”

Sokka nodded slowly. He breathed in deeply and then like a waterfall, let it all burst out.

“When I was a kid we had a similar place to this one close to our house. We went there all the time. A lot of parents didn’t like it because kids got hurt there really often but Katara and I loved it so much we always begged dad to take us there. It was before he had met Bato. There was one big slide that I always avoided and the one day that Katara had finally convinced me to go down it… we saw a kid basically tumble off it, fall really weird, and hit his head so hard he passed out. There was a lot of blood- ph god there was so much blood…! And the place actually closed down after that...”

He swallowed dryly. 

“The kid survived, I think he’s fine now, I don’t know, but I… I don’t know if I can do this.”

“So that’s why you kept asking me if the places I looked up were safe. Like an insane amount. I was worried you thought I’d be reckless with Kiyi, but I get it now. I’m sorry, Sokka. I promise you this place is safe. All the reviews were good. I couldn’t find any reviews or articles about accidents or anything.”

Sokka nodded nervously. Thankfully the circles Zuko’s thumbs were drawing on his hands were calming him down a little bit.

Kiyi clung to his waist and looked up sadly. 

“You can do it Soso, I believe in you. I will hold your hand if you’re still scared.” 

Sokka closed his eyes with a smile. She was such a sweetheart.

“My dear, sweet Kiyi. You’re the best.” He freed one of his hands and caressed her cheek. 

As he looked down the slide next to them he tried to decide if he could do it. He watched a kid scream with glee as they slid down and landed safely in the ball pit at the bottom.

“You don’t have to do this, Sokka.” Zuko squeezed his hand, concern evident on his face.

“I’m scared but.. on the other hand, I don’t want to let one event scare me into never going down these kinds of slides anymore… What if we have kids later and I can’t go down slides with them..! I don’t want to be a bad father..!”

Zuko chuckled fondly. “First of all, that is ways away, second of all, you will be an amazing dad, and also, it sounds like you’re talking yourself into doing it anyway so I’m not sure what to say here. Just know that if you don’t want to do it you don’t have to.”

“It’s okay, babe. I think I can do this.” He nodded, still uncertain but wanting to. “thank you though.”

Zuko pulled him in for a quick kiss and then gave him a nod. 

“What if I go first and then you and Kiyi can go when I’m down there?”

Sokka kissed him again. 

“I love you.” 

“And I love you.” He squeezed his hand one more time. “So do you want me to go first?” Sokka nodded with an eye roll. Zuko kissed his cheek, Kiyi’s forehead and then walked to the edge of the slide. 

“See you on the other side,” Sokka said nervously.

Zuko scoffed and rolled his eyes. “God, you’re so dramatic, babe. You’ll be able to see me the entire time.”

Sokka nodded and motioned for him to go.

He slid down the slide no problem. It went fast because he was an adult on a children’s slide, but it was safe.

Kiyi grabbed Sokka’s hand and sat down with him.

“Ready Soso?”

He nodded with a soft smile. He was thankful for how sweet she was. Oh, how he loved her. 

She squeezed his hand, just like her big brother had just done, and then they slid down together.

“Wheeee!!” She yelled happily. She loved the fast slide so much that when they got to the bottom she immediately made her way to the ladder to go again.

Sokka, upon falling into the ball pit, tried to stand up. He felt a little bit dizzy from his nerves and the adrenaline in his body and as he tried to find Zuko he lost his balance and tumbled backwards.

Zuko, who had thankfully been standing right next to him, wrapped his arms around him before he could fully fall back and hit his head. He waited till Sokka had opened his eyes and then pulled him up to a standing position.

“You’re okay, Sokka. I’ve got you.”

Sokka gazed into Zuko’s eyes feeling lost. It all went so fast he had barely registered it. He breathed out a heavy sigh when it finally dawned in on him that he was okay. 

“If it weren’t for you, I would never grow old.”

Zuko wanted to roll his eyes but Sokka was already pulling him into a loving kiss. It lasted long enough for the kids around them to notice and get grossed out. 

They moved away from each other but Sokka didn’t let him move away far. Zuko wanted to laugh with the kids and apologize, except the look in Sokka’s eyes kept him from doing so.

Sokka smiled at him with all the love he felt. It was so much that Zuko's heart skipped a beat. It was hard to get used to that gaze. 

Sokka sighed happily. “I can’t wait to marry you.”

Zuko raised his eyebrow and shook his head fondly.

“No.” His boyfriend said. “I’m serious. I want to marry you.”

This time Zuko was the one who pulled him in for a kiss.

“You know my answer, Sokka. One day. I can’t wait to marry you either.”

If you asked Sokka why he had tears in his eyes, well then he would say that it was the wind from sliding so fast, or an eyelash had fallen into both his eyes, or maybe he would exaggerate and say that he did bump his head and he had tears in his eyes from the pain… None of those were true though… No; it was the confirmation. Not only did Zuko still want to marry him, but he couldn’t wait for it either. 

A part of him had thought that Zuko was having second thoughts. That maybe it turned out that dating him was too much or somehow not enough. That maybe he kept saying one day, when really he meant, one day I’m breaking up with you. He thought that perhaps he was unhappy in their relationship but didn’t dare to mention it. Or that maybe he had been so forward about everything that Zuko felt forced to agree with him on everything, including marriage. 

But no. It turned out that Zuko did actually want this too. In fact, he wanted it  _ soon _ .

“You’re overthinking things, aren’t you?” Zuko’s arms wrapped around his waist as he looked at him concernedly.

“I…” he swallowed heavily. “Yeah…”

“Have I been saying so many I love yous that you don’t believe them anymore?”

“You’d tell me if something’s wrong, right?” Sokka asked instead of answering his boyfriend’s question.

“Sokka. Nothing’s wrong. And yes, of course I would tell you.” He moved one hand up to cup his cheek. He pecked his lips one… two… three times. He lingered in the last one. “But… I don’t have to tell you anything except that I’m so incredibly happy.”

Behind them, Kiyi was sliding down for the third time, completely at peace with just sliding over and over.

“Zuko… I…” He had no words. They said they loved each other so many times that he was searching for something bigger. 

What a fantastic problem to have… Loving each other so much that love becomes the new normal. For the longest time, Sokka’s normal was aching and yearning for something he thought he’d never have. And yet here he was, creating a new normal with the person he has loved for so long. A new normal where I love yous are said many times throughout the day, just simply because it was so true.

“Get out of your head, Sokka,” Zuko whispered to his lips. He kissed him softly. 

He was too late with kissing back. 

“I’m sorry.” _ I just never thought I’d ever be this happy. _ He thought it, but he didn’t say it.

When Zuko looked around his boyfriend to find his little sister he saw her happily playing with another little girl. He grabbed Sokka’s hand and started pulling him away.

“Come on, let’s go get a drink.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Sokka replied absentmindedly.

Zuko hated that. He hated it when Sokka got lost in his head and he didn’t know what was going on in there. He hated how distracted it made him and how it made him feel like he didn’t know how to help.

So instead of helping, he decided to try to take his mind off things. So he joked and he teased, and he took the long way out. Just so they could play around and feel a little bit like kids again. That was something neither of them had experienced right. Maybe they could make up for it a little bit by acting like kids as adults.

They had to squish between rolls and climb nets and crawl through small spaces, and Zuko would just compliment his ass or laugh at his fails until his boyfriend was smiling again.

It was going really well, but… Zuko wanted to just add a little tiny bit extra.

“Hey, remember how I said we should get married soon?” 

Sokka’s eyes widened and he instantly straightened.

“How could I ever forget?”

He was so intense Zuko couldn’t help himself when he rolled his eyes with a laugh.

“Anyway, what if we do it here and I make you look for the ring in the ball pit?”

The younger man gasped. “How dare you! We would get divorced immediately.”

Zuko laughed and stuck out his tongue to which Sokka just gave him a quick kiss. 

“If you did that to me I would just have to hide your ring in the… in the cake.”

Zuko shrugged without missing a beat. “That’s fine, more cake for me.”

They paused for a moment and then burst out laughing. They teased each other all the way to the exit of the contraption and were laughing loud enough for the other adults to notice them.

They were both so happy.

Sokka was thankfully pulled back into the euphoria of getting married to Zuko one day and he couldn’t help but smile so much his cheeks were starting to hurt. That had become a habit for the two. In the last few months, they had just had so much fun that they kept walking around with painful cheeks from smiling and laughing so incredibly much.

Sokka, now smiling more mischievously, pulled Zuko against him and pressed himself up against the wall as they were giggling, and then kissed him deeply.

Neither of them noticed that they were being watched; too lost in their little bubble of love.

“I can’t believe I have this…” Sokka whispered when they paused their kiss. A single finger tapped his cheeks, his chin, and then dragged along his chest. “You are mine… and I am yours…”

There was a hint of a smirk on Sokka’s face and though Zuko knew he was genuinely captivated by the fact that they’re dating, he also knew there was something else he was about to pull.

“I swear to god Sokka, if you start singing I’m yours..!”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence yet when Sokka started to sing. “Well, you done done me and you bet I felt it!”

“You son of a… boatman..!”

Sokka grinned. He was so proud of himself. “I tried to be chill but you’re so hot that I melted.”

“Sokka…!”

He just continued, knowing it would annoy him, and potentially get himself shoved into the wall and kissed harshly.

“I can’t believe I like you!” Zuko complained.

That changed the game.

Sokka gasped and then immediately started to sing another song. “Shot through the heart! And you’re to blame!”

“Wait what? What do you mean shot through the heart?”

Still to the tune of the song, absolutely not fitting it right, he answered. “First you say you’ll marry me and then you say you like me? What a step down..! And you’re to blame..!”

“Oh, come on..!” He laughed. “You know I-” Suddenly Zuko spotted the other adults. Most of them were watching the two of them. He swallowed harshly. “I…” He looked back at Sokka, his social anxiety clear in his eyes. “You know what I want to say, right?”

He didn’t mind people knowing they were together, and he definitely wasn’t ashamed of anything, but people  _ knowing  _ was different than people  _ looking _ . If people were specifically looking at them his anxiety would go crazy. He loved it when other people knew he was taken, and in love with an idiot, but people seeing them? People purposely looking while they’re kissing? That was a nightmare.

Sokka pushed himself away from the wall and reached out his hand. He knew how Zuko felt about strangers watching them like they just existed for their entertainment.

“Yes babe, I know what you mean.”

He pulled him along to their locker to get their stuff. It was time for a distraction.

“Do you want coffee or tea? I’ll go get some for you… and I was thinking… I’m craving a cookie or something else sweet, do you want anything?”

Zuko smiled warmly at him. He knew what he was doing, because he had just been doing the same thing for him. What a pair they were.

He was about to answer when a man in a uniform and a nametag that just said “Boss” and no name, walked up to them.

Sokka frowned. They hadn’t broken anything, right? Was there a rule about adults not being allowed into the thing?

He kept holding on to Zuko’s hand as the man started to speak to them in a stern tone.

“We do not accept such behaviour in this place young men.”

“Pardon?” Sokka blinked, uncertain. He could feel Zuko holding onto his hand even tighter and trying to disappear behind him. His social anxiety had already been triggered, this man being all stern and disapproving was definitely not making things any better.

He sighed. His tone got more annoyed as he spoke. “I mean..! We do not allow adults to have a make-out session in the kids’ areas. You can kiss outside all you want, but you cannot get into the ball pit just to make-out. That is inappropriate behaviour and I am asking you two to leave.”

“I- Oh…” Sokka blinked, and then put on a sad face. “Oh… I was just in there because when we were kids we were here all the time and well, we had our first kiss here. Before we figured everything out, you know.” He pointed between Zuko and himself. 

“...but as kids, we had our first kiss here and then years later we got together and well, I wanted to propose to him in a special place, and I thought what better place than the place we had our first kiss, you know? He said yes by the way..!” He grinned proudly, showing the man their intertwined fingers.

Kiyi, who had seen the men talking, came to stand next to them and pouted.

“No, that’s not true, Soso.”

Sokka panicked a little bit. “What?” He looked at her all surprised. “How do you know? Were you there?” He winked at her to let her know to play along. Hopefully. Did she know that’s what winks meant sometimes?

Thankfully the man told them they’d get away with a warning this time, but he didn’t want to ever see them do it again.

They all nodded and said thank you. As soon as the man turned around they quickly went to get their things and told Kiyi it was time to leave.

It was best to not linger after such an embarrassing public issue.

As they were walking to the car Zuko bumped into Sokka’s side to get his attention.

“Sokka this place has only been here for 5 years.” He laughed, the adrenaline coursing through his body was nice.

Sokka’s eyes widened and he froze in his tracks. Zuko nodded at him.

“Shit. Kiyi run!”

They ran to the car even though they didn’t have to because the man had seen right through him from the start. He had heard their conversation via the security cameras and decided to let it slide. They had them at all the slides for obvious reasons. He knew they weren’t creeps, but he didn’t want them to make a habit of making out in a ball pit between a bunch of children. Which was fair.

They ran and they hurried into the car and Sokka drove away quickly and then when they were a few blocks down, he parked next to a Starbucks and they all burst out laughing.

“Okay, who wants a drink and a cookie?” Sokka asked his favourite siblings.

“Me!” They both called out.

Sokka was endeared by Zuko’s happy mood and pulled him in by his chin. He gave him a quick kiss and smiled as he shook his head. “You’re so cute.”

Kiyi took off her seatbelt and climbed in between the seats, demanding her very own kiss. 

“Mommy says I’m cute too.”

Sokka chuckled and peppered her face in small kisses, making her shriek with joy. 

“That you are, my dear.” 

She hugged him tightly and he couldn’t help but hug back just as tight. He reached his one hand out towards Zuko, who he couldn’t see through the hair in his face. Zuko took a hold of it and pressed his lips to it.

It was a sweet moment. Sokka felt loved. A different kind of loved than Zuko made him feel. His boyfriend’s little sister loving him was something different entirely. Not only was she a kid and did her love feel like a blessing, but they had also been really annoying lately. Being all over each other and not paying enough attention to her hadn’t been nice of them, and yet… here she was… demanding his love because she loved him in return. It was awfully nice, to be loved like that.

He spent a minute with his eyes closed, breathing in the smell of her princess shampoo, and thinking about being a dad.

When he was starting to get choked up about it all he quickly pushed her out of his arms. 

“Let’s get you a cookie.” He smiled at her, he hoped she could see how much he loved her. “And maybe… perhaps… you should give your brother such a good hug too.” 

She beamed over at her brother and then back at Sokka. 

“YES!” She exclaimed. “I should!”

Zuko laughed as he helped her climb over to him. She clung onto him as he got out of the car. She continued to cling onto him as Sokka took his hand, and didn’t even let go when they walked into the café.

In all honesty, she was way too heavy to keep holding. The good thing was that she was clinging onto him with arms and legs and that distributed the weight, but a six-year-old is just simply… a bit much to carry around.

He still did it though. He refused to let her go until it was absolutely, undeniably necessary.

This wasn’t it though, so he held onto her as they stood in line, and still held onto her as they placed their orders.

“Would your daughter like a complimentary cookie?” The cashier asked the boys kindly.

Unlike that time in the grocery store, Kiyi did not correct the lady this time.

“Complimentary?” Sokka asked, trying to hold back his surprise.

“Yes they’re perfectly edible but we have a new batch coming so we have to either give them away or toss them in the bin.”

“Well, we did come here for cookies.” Kiyi reminded the adults with a serious face. Sokka shook his head with a smile and accepted a cookie as Zuko kissed his sister’s cheek.

“You’re a very cute family. Your drinks will be ready in a minute.” She told them with a smile before moving on to the next customer. 

Zuko reached out for Sokka’s hand, who squeezed it gently. They smiled at each other as if they knew something that was just meant for them. A little family secret. 

They were going to have a lot of those. Their fake little family with Kiyi, and their real little family with the kid they were going to have. Eventually.

It was going to be great, they  _ knew  _ it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love to know your thoughts, I really hope you liked it! 💖
> 
> Next chapter tomorrow! 🥰


	5. The Children's Museum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka's plan was coming together pretty well so far, but this next try was definitely taking a little longer than he had wanted. So much so, that it led to chaos. Even more chaos than the last time. Maybe, perhaps, the children's museum wasn't the best place to do this..? But did that stop Sokka? No.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this museum is partially based on a real existing one and a little bit based on what I dreamt of as a kid. I hope you like it! 🥰

When the boys took Kiyi to the children’s museum, it had been 5 weeks since they had seen each other. Zuko had never not seen her for that long and he had missed her like crazy. 

Kiyi had clearly missed him too because the moment the door opened; she flew into his arms. It was adorable and warmed the hearts of all the adults present.

She had been to the children’s museum with her parents several times before, but this time she had asked for the boys specifically. Naturally, they agreed immediately. There was no way they were going to say no to a fun day out with their favourite little girl.

It was a short drive, so the singing chaos wasn’t as bad as the time before. But Kiyi had definitely been excited to be chaotic with her big brother again, because she was singing at the top of her lungs during the minutes she did get.

When she wasn’t singing, she was telling them about the cool things they had at the museum. 

“There’s this giant tree you can climb into! And there’s a big city! And cars! And there’s a whole grocery store!”

They were pretty sure that half of the things she was telling them weren’t completely true, if at all, but they couldn’t wait to find out.

They bought the tickets, signed in and then made their way through the hallway into the play area. 

Kiyi instantly ran away. “Come on! We need to go to the grocery store!”

“Hold up, we still need to put your coat away..!”

“Oh right..!” She came running back, shrugged off her coat, let it fall to the floor and then ran away once more. 

The young men laughed as Zuko picked her coat up from the floor. They let her run. The directions were on the floor and there was nowhere for her to get lost without them being able to find her.

Besides, she knew the place, so if anyone was getting lost it would be one of the adults.

“I think she’s excited.” Sokka chuckled, his hands hovering close to Zuko.

When he had put away her coat and turned around, those hands found his waist and pulled him into a hug. 

“What’s that for?”

Sokka shrugged. “Just because.”

Zuko searched his face and then quickly pecked his lips. “Alright. I don’t mind.”

“I know you don’t.” Sokka winked with a smirk. 

Zuko withheld a dramatic sigh. “Are you going to be ridiculous again today?”

“Of course, I have to keep being myself. If I ever acted unlike myself you would fall out of love with me.” He said as he grabbed his hand and started walking backwards and pulling him along. “I can’t have that.”

“Please, you couldn’t be anything unlike your crazy self if you tried.” Zuko pulled him back just in time to stop him from walking backwards into a child. 

“Oh, thanks..!” He turned to the kid. “Sorry about that. You okay?” The kid nodded and then ran after her mother.

When they finally caught up to Kiyi, because they did get a little bit lost, she was already playing with the groceries. It was very cute. All these tiny little groceries were absolutely piled onto her tiny cart. 

“Do you really need that many groceries?” Zuko laughed.

“Yes! It’s almost Christmas and we need to start shopping early!” 

“Who told you that?” Sokka ran a hand through her hair.

“Mom did…” She hesitated. “Is that not true?”

“Well, usually you buy the things that last longer early, but some things can go bad.” He picked up an entire plastic fruit bowl. “For example, these fruits won’t stay good for the next few weeks. Or these tomatoes… Oh but the meat you can freeze!”

She thought for a moment and then shrugged. “I’ll freeze it all!” 

Sokka chuckled. “Sure. That works too. Not sure if you have a freezer that’s big enough.”

She pulled her brother closer and whispered in his ear, “Soso is so stupid, these are all fake groceries of course it fits in the freezer.” She shook her head with a laugh and Zuko pressed his lips together tightly to try to not burst out a laugh.

“You can’t call Sokka stupid..!”

Sokka gasped loudly. “Stupid?? Me?!” 

Kiyi giggled with a hand in front of her mouth and then launched herself into his arms. 

“Sorry Soso.”

“You’re excused. For now.” He narrowed his eyes mischievously to which the little girl quickly grabbed her cart and ran away screaming.

The adults laughed and Zuko couldn’t help himself when he took ahold of Sokka’s hand and pressed his lips to his cheek. “You’re not stupid at all, don’t worry. Just ridiculous.”

Sokka knew he meant it. He knew his boyfriend was aware of his insecurity about how smart he was. All his life he was told that he was just the stupid or the dumb one. Just simply because he was goofy and energetic and easily distracted. His brain had never been good enough for the people around him. 

His fathers had never really been mean to him about it but… they had just never expected anything from him because they did also believe that he wasn’t smart. They had always said that it didn’t matter if he was smart or not, that it didn’t define who he was, but as well as they had meant that, it had still hurt that they thought he wasn’t as smart as he actually was.

Now that he was older and grown-up, and knew both how to define his worth and how smart he was, he knew that they had been a little bit right. Not about how smart he was, but about what defined him and what did not. As much as it still hurt to not have been taken seriously at that age, at least their reactions had been good. 

His self-worth was not built on whether or not he understood something or knew a widely known fact. It was built on who he was. He was smart and stupid, goofy and serious, interested and distracted. And perhaps most importantly; he was kind and happy. And that was what defined him. Not just the one thing, but everything. 

He shook his head to get back to the conversation. What was it that Zuko had said? Oh right. Not stupid, just ridiculous.

Slowly a smirk appeared on his face.

“Ridiculous you say? Hmm…. There’s a bell ringing but I’m not quite sure what for…”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “See? Ridiculous.” He pulled him in by his shirt and kissed him shortly.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

The older boy knew the younger wanted to be kissed for longer, and he knew he would whine about it, so he raised his chin and wiggled his eyebrow. “What? Was it not long enough, babe? Do you need more?”

Sokka swatted Zuko’s hand away with a dramatic huff. “Sir. This is Gucci.” He tried to iron out the creases with his hand.

Zuko paused, pulled an annoyed face at him and then pulled him back in. “You are an idiot, come here you.”

He lingered against his lips for a few moments and then backed away and straightened Sokka’s clothes. 

“I promised Kiyi we wouldn’t be all over each other today.”

Sokka frowned. “Ooh, I don’t know if I can make that promise..!” 

Zuko rolled his eyes, slapped his chest and then started to walk away. He waited a second to grab his boyfriend’s hand and then he pulled him along to grab a cart and play with Kiyi. 

As soon as she saw them with a cart she screamed. “Yes! You go buy things and then I’ll be the lady who works here!”

“Oh uh, ma’am?” Zuko started immediately. “Could you help me find the cheese?”

“No!” She chimed. 

“Oh. Oh but, I really need the cheese, ma’am.”

“No. I can’t help you.” She walked away with her head held high.

The young men looked at each other and giggled. Sokka took over for a moment. 

“Oi ma’am.” He started in a terrible British accent. “I need me beans. I need me beans and me taters.”

Kiyi tilted her head like a cat and pouted. “What are taters?”

“What art taters?!” Sokka exclaimed dramatically and loud enough for Zuko to facepalm. The whole place probably heard him yell that.

“They’re potatoes, dear. You know, like tater tots?” Zuko tried.

“Oh yeah, I know those..!” She nodded and then in a heartbeat turned to Sokka and said, “We don’t have those,” before walking away.

“Well, what do you mean you do not have those?! This is outrageous..!” Sokka exclaimed as he grabbed his chest dramatically.

They played around like that for a while. Kiyi made them get certain groceries, made up a story about them and then told them to go pay for their things.

She ran over to the register and quickly settled in before the boys walked up to her. She made them place all the items on the belt and she scanned them one by one, making her own little beeps along the way. Sometimes she would pretend the items couldn’t scan and she’d type in their codes by hand.

One time she pretended she couldn’t find a code and then leant into the microphone loudly exclaiming, “Can someone come help me with this weird purple cucumber I can’t find the code!” Then after waiting 2 seconds, turned her head and yelled. “I can’t find it either, it’s free this one time! Just once!  _ Once  _ you hear me?!”

Sokka snickered into Zuko’s neck. He was standing behind him with his arms around his shoulders, holding him close. Zuko may have promised he wasn’t going to be all over him, but Sokka had made no such promise.

She happily continued to scan the items. And after a few more minutes she pressed some buttons on the register and finally looked up at the boys. 

“Your total is one thousand three hundred seventy million dollars.” She gave them a nod and opened up the register, her face completely serious.

“Oh. One thousand thirty-seven million, you said? Can we use coupons?” Zuko was playing along very seriously.

“No.”

“No?”

She nodded; her face couldn’t be more serious. “No. It’s three thousand five hundred seventy million, actually.”

“Three thousand? No, you said one thousand!” 

“Four thousand then.”

Zuko wanted to protest for the sake of the game but as he remembered just how tired he felt from just standing there, he decided to give in. “Can we pay by card?” He loved her very much, but if the entire day was going to be like this? He’d need a 24hour nap.

“No.”

“Can we pay… with an app?”

“Nope.”

“How about…… we steal it all?”

She shook her head with wide eyes. “Nuh-uh!”

Sokka unhooked himself from Zuko and stepped around the register, reaching out his hands.

“How about we pay you with kisses!!!” He stepped towards her, picked her up and peppered her face in kisses as she laughed and struggled to free herself.

When Sokka finally let her go she ran away quickly.

Zuko stepped closer and kissed his shoulder. “Thanks.”

Sokka looked aside and kissed his temple. “Let’s go after her before we lose her.”

They ended up finding her in the small remake of the city, sitting in a small flintstones-like car.

“Wow! Finally! There you are!” She exclaimed upon seeing them.

Sokka shook his head and Zuko snorted. 

“It’s been a minute.”

“It’s been the longest minute of my life!” She let herself fall onto the steering wheel dramatically.

Zuko elbowed his boyfriend in his side. “She gets that kind of drama from you.”

“Me?!” He looked at him with a gaping mouth long enough to make Kiyi giggle. “How dare you imply I’m  _ dramatic _ ?!” He looked him up and down and then threw his chin up in the air and walked away with a huff.

Kiyi fell out of the car from her giggles.

Zuko just stood there shaking his head for a solid minute. Sokka grinned at him from where he was picking Kiyi up off the floor and grinned proudly. He blew him a kiss and then turned to the little girl. 

“You okay there, madam? It appears you’ve had a bit of an accident!”

Kiyi, instantly getting into a new character, put on an even worse British accent than her brother(in-law). Well, almost.

“Why yes, it does. Tis because of you, my lord.”

Sokka immediately broke character to laugh and kiss her forehead. “I don’t know where you learned that but it’s great.”

“I learned it from mommy’s tv.”

“Was she watching Pride and Prejudice again?” 

Kiyi frowned. “What?”

“The one from a long time ago with the pretty dresses where they go for a lot of walks and dances.”

“Oh! Yes!”

Zuko chuckled as he walked over. “She watched it without Soso? How dare she.”

“That’s just because I told her I wanted to watch it with you, dear.”

“I will not be your mister Darcy, Sokka.” He tried his best to look annoyed, but his eyes gave him away.

Sokka got up from his crouched position and pulled Zuko close by his neck. “You already are.” He gazed at him for a moment. “Because I love you most ardently.”

“Isn’t that my line then?”

Sokka gasped, instantly proud. “So you  _ do  _ know it!”

“You think I don’t know my mother and boyfriend’s favourite movie?”

Sokka inched closer, moving his arms to loosely hang around his neck.

“Okay fine. That’s fair. I do though… I do lo-”

“love you most ardently, yes I know babe.”

Sokka was leaning in even closer as he wrapped one arm a little tighter around his neck. He kissed him softly. 

“I… don’t know what ardently means.” He whispered to his lips. He could feel Zuko’s lips curl up. “…but I do know that I love you.”

Zuko kissed him again, a little deeper this time. 

“We’ll look it up later.” He whispered between kisses.

Kiyi allowed them to break their promise for a minute before getting annoyed.

“Zuzu! Soso! Let’s go play!”

They broke apart with a chuckle, a soft whoops, and then another quick kiss. Just simply because it was an endearing moment.

“Let’s crash some cars!” The girl exclaimed when they finally fully turned to her.

“What?!” They both exclaimed.

“I wanna crash some cars!!” She grabbed Sokka’s hand and pulled him along. “Soso, you go in this one.” She guided Zuko to another car and then got into a third one.

“Okay, now let’s drive to each other!” 

She pretended to start the car, moved it into drive and then started walking her car to the middle. The guys did the same, but held back to make sure nobody would actually get hurt.

They crashed disappointingly softly but after Zuko explained that she couldn’t get hurt and they couldn’t break anything, she accepted it. She jumped out of the car and then climbed on the hood before dramatically lying down on it.

“Oh no! I have been hit!” She exclaimed with a hand backwards on her forehead.

They played out an entire dramatic car crash. Zuko had to also get hurt and Sokka had to panic. He was so into his role that someone actually came to check on them. Thankfully they started laughing as soon as they saw the girl directing the scene.

Zuko mouthed an apology at the employee, who waved it off and left.

When the adults had finally convinced her that the scene was over and it was time for lunch, they cleaned up their mess and left for the cafeteria. 

It was a different play area with a whole fake cafeteria with plates and cutlery and more plastic food. Thankfully she wasn’t set on playing there, so they could just eat in peace. 

Well, peace except for the kids who were playing waiter and chef and kept coming to their table to ask for an order and then bring plates with fake foods for them to cut through the velcro and pretend to eat.

It was cute. Kiyi joined them for a bit after she was done eating, only because she was bored, leaving the boys to rest a little bit longer.

They sat with their arms around each other, Zuko leaning against Sokka and stealing kisses every now and then. Sokka kept combing his fingers through Zuko’s hair and stealing sniffs of his shampoo.

Sokka was watching Kiyi play, Zuko was watching his boyfriend through his eyelashes. Slowly he leant closer and tilted his head further. He tilted his chin and parted his lips. He wanted to ask for a kiss but he didn’t want to fall into deeper things in this place. He didn’t want people to see them kissing, again, and for them to get into trouble. Again.

So, he just sat there, leaning closer and closer until Sokka noticed him and finally kissed him.

It was a soft, lingering kiss. It was lips pressed against lips, and barely any movement. It was deep, slow breaths and a soft press that slowly grew firmer and firmer. 

They were trying to pour their love into it without becoming passionate, and inappropriate. It was hard but, if they were being honest, they loved these kinds of kisses too. Just a simple lingering need to be close. They knew that feeling very well. It was a feeling that used to make them ache, but now it just made them sappy.

When they were done with their lunch break they moved on to another part of the museum. This was the part about nature. Specifically, plants and trees. There were lots of plants that you could feel and even taste with a lady that worked there. 

Kiyi loved the feeling of the mint leaves, but did not like the taste. She didn’t care for the feeling of the chives but she did like the taste of that one. 

They spent forever feeling and tasting herbs until she got bored with them and moved over to the big fake tree she could play in. It was a giant tree of life looking thing, covered in ropes and handles and all sorts of things you could use to climb up. It was surrounded by a pit filled with foam pieces.

If you could reach the top you got to go down this curly tube slide on a giant fabric leaf.

Kiyi begged the young men to climb up with her. It didn’t take much convincing. They were there to have fun with her after all. But it wasn't.. perhaps.. the best idea…

They climbed up with her once. It was… a catastrophe. Zuko fell off accidentally due to his vision issues. He felt devastated but Kiyi thought that him falling was so funny that she did it on purpose, absolutely scaring Sokka shitless.

Sokka almost had a panic attack as Kiyi seemed to disappear between the foam pieces. Zuko, feeling terrible about his disability, freaked out and tried to find her, but the more he moved the deeper he got sucked into the pit. He lost a sock before he had found his sister. By then Sokka had climbed back down and jumped in to get to them. 

When they finally had all three eyes on them Kiyi was just laughing.

“That was fun!” She was completely oblivious to the horror the boys had just experienced. 

Without checking on the adults she wiggled her way through the foam and climbed back up the tree. 

“Come on guys!” She called over her shoulder.

“Uh.. you.. you go without us first..!” Zuko called with a forced smile. She shrugged and went alone without a fuzz. 

The boys reached out under the foam and tried to find each other’s hands to hold. When it took too long they gave up and reached them out above the foam. They grabbed each other by the wrists and pulled till they were close enough to hug.

The hug was short as they heard Kiyi scream and they instantly hurried away from each other to look.

They watched as Kiyi purposely jumped down again. She screamed with  _ glee _ . She was clearly enjoying it. That didn’t make the young men’s heartbeat any slower though.

They both heaved out a sigh before falling into each other’s arms again.

When they had managed to calm their racing hearts they backed away to give the other a quick kiss.

“Ew! Hair..!” Sokka grimaced as he tried to grab the hair out of his mouth.

“I… really hope that’s yours…” Zuko pulled a grossed-out face.

“Let’s not think about it.” Sokka removed the hair and then pulled him back in. It was a quick little kiss. They pressed their foreheads together afterwards. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay now. You?”

“Mhm. Little bit shaken up.”

They spent a moment breathing each other in, fully calming themselves. And then they  _ struggled  _ their way out of the pit. How come these foam things seemed to swallow you up the more you moved?

As they were swimming through the foam, Zuko could see that the jumping was still giving Sokka anxiety. He wasn’t feeling great about it either, so he decided it was time for something else.

“Kiyi, it’s time to stop jumping now. If you want to go down the slide you have to keep climbing up.” 

She, thankfully, didn’t protest, and instead just kept climbing to the top.

Zuko let his shoulders hang when they had finally managed to get out of the foamy pit of hell.

“What’s wrong?” Sokka was instantly concerned again.

Zuko pouted at him, sticking his barefoot in the air. “I lost my sock…”

Sokka smiled fondly. “You… are…” He brushed some hair behind Zuko’s ear. “…cute.” He kissed his cheek and then his temple. “We’ll buy you a new sock tomorrow.”

“Just one?”

“Hm….. yes.” He nodded.

He moved, helped Zuko up and then pulled him over to a half wall next to the pit. It was close to the exit of the slide so they figured it was the perfect place to wait.

She ran past, barely acknowledging them, and launched herself into the foam pit to go down the slide again.

“Well, at least she’s happy.” 

Sokka nodded as he watched her. “She is.” His hands were hovering close to him again. “Did you hurt yourself when you fell?”

“Nah, my hand just slipped. I wasn’t looking.” Zuko shrugged, leaning closer to feel his warm hands through his shirt.

Sokka pressed closer too, he just couldn’t help it. He just felt this unstoppable need to be close to him.

They stood there for a while just quietly chatting as they watched Kiyi climb up the tree, disappear at the top and then reappear at the end of the slide. She was having a blast.

A few minutes later there was a parent somewhere behind them whistling as they waited for their kid. When it registered in Zuko’s ears he started to smile. He hid it quickly before Sokka could see it, and then with a serious face said, “Hey, you know I still can’t whistle?” 

Sokka looked back at him. “You can’t?”

“Nope! Never could.” He frowned seriously. “Can you whistle?” 

Sokka grinned, licked his lips and then pursed them, ready to whistle his very best whistle. 

Except.. before he could make a single sound, Zuko was pressing a kiss to those pursed lips.

Sokka blinked at him. His lips parted as he watched his boyfriend grin proudly. His eyes narrowed slowly.

“Did… did you just… out-idiot me?” He uttered, completely rendered useless by the joke. “Did you just pull something so ridiculous, it can’t possibly have come from you?”

Zuko just grinned and tilted his head proudly. Oh boy, he was so proud of himself.

Sokka had to force himself to not get emotional over his idiot boyfriend trying to out-idiot him. Instead, he just pulled him in and kissed him harshly. Again. How much had they kissed in this place?

“I can’t believe you just pulled the most idiotic joke on me...! That’s my job..! I love you!”

“I think it’s going to have to become my job if this is the reaction I get.” Zuko continued to tease.

“I adore you.” 

“You’re a sap.”

“And for once, you are ridiculous.”

Zuko wore the title proudly. Ridiculous. Ridiculously in love with his boyfriend.

“That, and I love you.”

Sokka pressed their foreheads and noses together.

“I can’t believe I have you.” He whispered to him, something oddly proud in his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re mine…” He breathed in deeply and then started singing. “And I’m y-”

“Don’t you dare..!” Zuko cut him off.

Sokka laughed and hugged him tightly. 

“Too late, you already have the song in your head.”

“Dag nabbit Sokka...!” He groaned. He loved it though. He couldn’t deny that.

They continued to tease each other while Kiyi went down the slide another twenty times. They couldn’t help but be lovey-dovey idiots. They were just so happy together.

When Ursa texted them in their group chat about needing photos, they first took a selfie together and then tried to get Kiyi to pause her playing long enough to take a photo with her.

She refused to take a photo with the boys so instead Zuko filmed her climbing and then sliding down.

“Say hi to mom!” 

“Hi mom!” She waved enthusiastically as she continued to run past them. 

Zuko ended the video, sent it, and closed the app. He quickly turned off his phone screen when he realized what Sokka could see, but it was too late.

“Zuko..! Was that.. was that Kiyi and me in the bathroom? When she was pretending she had to pee just so she could talk to me?”

“What…?”

“Was that from the weekend when she was trying to set us up?” It was and he knew it, but he still needed Zuko to say it.

“What, I can’t have my favourite people as my background?”

“I’m one of your favourite people?”

Zuko was about to scoff and say duh but decided against it since Sokka was clearly playing with him.

He stared at him with a blank face for uncomfortably long. “…no.”

Sokka couldn’t hide his surprise but he didn’t get the time to respond. Zuko was already talking again.

“No, my boyfriend, the man I’ve been in love with for over 6 years is  _ definitely  _ not my favourite person.” He continued without missing a beat. “Anyway, it’s a nice memory. You and her chatting in the shower, me just sitting there loving it all. You were so good with her and I felt so in love and I took that photo and I was so embarrassed and you just… turned it into something fun and I felt so relieved and I just really love you, okay.”

Sokka wrapped both his arms around his neck and kissed his nose. “I loved that moment too. Even though I was freezing, she was so cute and it made me think of having kids with you. That photo of her and me is one of my favourites.” He pecked his nose again and then his lips. “I’m just surprised that’s the one you chose. Your background has been a photo of you and Kiyi together for as long as I can remember.”

“Well, I couldn’t have you as my background before we got together, that would’ve given everything away.” He said as he held onto his hips tightly. He didn’t want him to step away.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. He motioned towards his hands. “What’s that about?”

Zuko hesitated, unsure of what to say.

“Stay with me.”

“You think I’m going anywhere?”

“You might.”

“We live together. Where would I go?”

“Anywhere else.”

“Small chance…” He pulled him closer, his lips against his temple. Not in a kiss but just as part of the hug. “Zero chance really.” He whispered against his skin.

Zuko leant into it with closed eyes. He very slowly started to nod. “Okay…” His eyes slowly opened and he glanced at his boyfriend through his lashes. Sokka’s eyes were closed. They spent a minute just like that. Sokka was waiting for a few more words.

Zuko swallowed away the dryness in his throat. “I believe you.”

There they were.

He backed away slowly, Zuko’s hands lingered just as much as his own. He pulled a flirty face the moment Zuko turned his head to face him.

“You can’t get rid of me, baby.” 

Zuko visibly melted. Sokka knew just what to do and say in his moments of insecurity.

“Sorry I made you feel bad. I meant it with all the love in my heart, but I guess it didn’t come across like that. I’m sorry babe.”

“Oh I know, Soso, my brain is just mean.”

Sokka nodded, placed both his hands on either side of his face and tilted it to press a kiss to his forehead. “It definitely is sometimes.” He bonked his nose against his forehead and then in a stern tone whispered, “You better be nice to my boyfriend you mean Brian.”

Zuko snorted. His heart the size of a building. “Brian?”

“Yeah.” He pressed their foreheads together again. “Brian is mean.”

“Most of the time Brian is good to me now.” He promised quietly.

His boyfriend pecked his lips. “I’m glad.” He rubbed their noses together. “Will you tell me if he’s mean again?”

Zuko’s voice was high when he hummed. “Mhm.”

They leant in at the same time and kissed a little deeper than before. Both of them knew this was a bit of a silly way to talk about their mental issues, but it was helpful to pretend it was just a mean friend rather than your own head trying to sabotage you.

“Ugh, are you done?” Kiyi groaned from next to them.

They backed away and furrowed their brows at her. 

“Where did you come from?”

“The slide.”

Zuko snorted, as if that much hadn’t been obvious. 

Sokka instead chose to be a little bit sarcastic about it.

“Wait. You have been sliding? And here I was thinking you had been reading books all this time..!” 

Kiyi giggled. “No..! Silly Soso! I was sliding..! You were just too busy being yucky with Zuzu.” 

“Yucky? We were just being boyfriends..! That’s not yucky..!” He said dramatically.

Zuko sighed just as dramatically at his two favourite people. “Are you two ready to go somewhere new?”

“Yes!” Kiyi exclaimed so loudly it startled Sokka. She giggled once more. “Sorry Soso.”

Both adults took a hold of one of her little hands and together they walked to the next spot she wanted to go to. The theater.

As soon as she saw it she let go of their hands and hurried her way into the dressing room. There were piles of clothes to choose from, a bunch of plastic props and even some face paint to put on.

When they turned the corner to see her, they found her already hoisting herself into a glittery outfit. Sokka stepped over to help her as Zuko searched through the props for something fun.

Kiyi made both of them wear costumes too, even though they only had kids’ sizes. They looked absolutely ridiculous in their outfits. Especially after Kiyi was done fixing their hair. Thankfully she hadn’t made a fuzz when they had said no to face paint. At least they didn’t have to clean that off later.

They made their way onto the stage, and Zuko heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that no one was there to watch them. He played along without worry, making Kiyi very happy.

They played and played and then played some more. The little girl was insanely creative with all her ideas. She was acting and singing and directing the adults and they all had a blast. 

It was another reminder for the young men that they really wanted kids. Not just to play with them of course, but also to raise into an amazing human being and then get emotional about having had that impact. They already got emotional about the effect they had on Kiyi. 

From time to time, she would do or say something that could only have come from them and they would look at each other with deep emotions evident in their eyes. It was just such a beautiful thing. To have a lasting effect on someone without even knowing you’re doing it.

“It would be great for her to have someone to play with,” Zuko said when Sokka grinned at him, after finishing yet another scene with her. 

Sokka stumbled over his feet to get to him. “What did you just say?”

Zuko smiled knowingly. 

“Did you just imply what I think you’re implying?” Sokka was absolutely shocked beyond words. “Did you just… I- Did y- Am I cor- Zuko..?” 

Did he just imply they should adopt a kid Kiyi’s age? Soon? Like it was nothing?

Zuko couldn’t help it when he smirked at him with a glisten in his eyes. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re so mean.” He got all up in his space, hovered in front of his face for a solid second, and then left.

“Now who’s mean?” Zuko whined.

Sokka just grinned right back at him. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Zuko rolled his eyes with a smile. He may have uttered an “idiot” under his breath but no one had heard that.

The next scene they played out was the final one they had time for that day. Sokka knew that it was now or never when it came to asking a certain question, so he quickly pulled Kiyi aside and told her to direct them in the right direction.

They played out a very dramatic love story, one that could fit right in with the classics. Zuko’s character died, Sokka had a dramatic goodbye scene in which he almost cried real tears, and then Zuko came back to life.

“Oh, my love!” Sokka exclaimed as he ran towards him. “My love, am I dreaming?” His hands rested on his chest.

“No Sokka. It’s me.”

“His name is Jared!” Kiyi said sternly. For the third time in five minutes.

Zuko closed his eyes and resisted the urge to protest. Jared did not suit Sokka. It was completely wrong.

“No…  _ Jared _ ... It’s me. Your love.”

Even worse than Sokka’s character name was Zuko’s, who she had happily named…. Zukkulent…

“Oh, my dear Zukkulent..!” Sokka tried his very best not to laugh at the name. “Why did you leave me?!”

“T’was my time, but I was pulled back by your love..!”

“My love, I never want you to leave me again.” He got down on one knee, pulled an invisible box out of his pocket and opened it up to him. “My dear Zukkulent, I wish to never be parted from you again. Marry me.”

Despite the tears in Sokka’s eyes, Zuko couldn’t hold in his laugh at the absurd name mixed in with such a heartfelt question.

Sokka glanced over at Kiyi and his face instantly became mischievous. 

His boyfriend tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

“What if I was serious?” Sokka’s eyes were glistening with mischief.

Zuko just laughed even more at that. “You know my answer, you absolute buffoon.” He pulled him back up and kissed his lips.

“One day.”

“But when?”

“Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“You know why, Sokka. Don’t be ridiculous.” Zuko shook his head. He couldn’t stop chuckling. “You’re so cute, you know that?”

Sokka shrugged. “I’ve been told.”

Zuko wrapped his arms around his waist. “You’ve been told you’re ridiculous?”

“Oh yeah, that too.” He nodded lightly. “I do seem to recall that meant something though.”

The older guy shook his head with a smile and leant in to kiss him once more. Sokka smiled and happily wrapped his arms around his neck as he kissed back. He was okay with this answer, for now. He still had a plan to get him to finally actually say yes, and he was getting to that part slowly but surely.

After they cleaned up their costumes, and Sokka had picked his phone up off the ground and turned off the camera, they went to get dinner with her. They left the children’s museum, promising Kiyi to go back there again soon because they hadn’t seen it all yet. 

Dinner was thankfully quiet and without much chaos. Everyone was tired and the longer they were sitting the more their bodies started to switch into slumber mode.

Sokka drove home, the siblings both asleep in the car. He took a photo of them when he had to wait at a traffic light. He sent it to Ursa, Katara and his dads, with twenty hearts, of course. Because well, he was in love, and he was allowed to be. In love with Zuko, in love with life, in platonic love with Kiyi and the idea of having kids. It was just a really nice moment and he wanted to share that with all the people he loved.

Zuko woke up as he took the last turn towards Ursa and Noren’s house. 

“We’re here?” He asked sleepily.

“Yes, dear.” Sokka rubbed a hand over his boyfriend’s knee and smiled at him when he could take his eyes off the road.

“Will you bring her home? I’ll turn the car around.”

“Yeah, sure.” He yawned, stretched and then looked over his shoulder to see his little sister sound asleep.

When Sokka stopped the car he got out, carefully took Kiyi’s belt off and then carried her out of the car and over to the house. 

Ursa had already been expecting them. Sokka had given her an ETA and had, as per usual, been correct to the minute. How he did it nobody knew.

“How was it, dear?” She asked as she took Kiyi from his arms.

“It was great.” He caressed Kiyi’s hair and kissed the side of her head. “She’ll sleep tight. It’s been a crazy day.”

“I’m glad you had a good time.” His mother smiled at him with a look in her eye that he’d rather not see. He knew it wasn’t pity, but it kind of felt like it. It was a look of,  _ I know you’ve had a terrible life for a long time and you deserve this _ , but it felt more like an, _ oh you poor thing, never knowing happiness until you’re a full-grown adult.. and it’s mostly my fault… _

She pulled him in with one arm and kissed his head. Her eyes were still showing that pity and regret. He couldn’t look her in the eye.

Ursa knew what was going on and she hated it more than she could describe. So instead, she tried to change the mood by asking a question. “Did anything fun or crazy happen?”

It worked. He chuckled. 

“Oh, so much. She’s a little weirdo. We had to pretend to be in a car crash so that was new. Sokka pretended to propose again, which wasn’t new. I fell down a tree, Kiyi purposely jumped down the tree… it was eventful.”

“Oh dear god, again? Will that boy ever stop joking about marriage?” 

“I doubt it.” Zuko laughed with a warm heart. He didn’t mind the jokes. He loved them if he were really honest.

His mother groaned a little bit. “It’s already having quite the effect on your sister.”

To this Zuko frowned. “How come?”

“Her teacher told me she keeps proposing to the kids in her class. All the time. Any chance she gets.”

Zuko’s lips were pressed together to stop himself from laughing, but his eyes and his blush gave it all away.

“Whoops?”

Ursa laughed, ran a hand through her son’s hair and then told him to go home. “It’s late. You look exhausted.”

He nodded. “I am.” As he said that he yawned as if triggered by the reminder.

“Good night, dear.”

“Good night, mom.”

“Good night, Sokka.” She waved at him and he waved back through the opened window. 

Kiyi stirred awake and looked around through barely opened eyes. “Oh, hi mom.”

“Good night, Kiyi!” Sokka called at her from the car. He waved and blew her a kiss and she waved back lazily. 

Her brother gave her another kiss, wished her a good night and then he went back to the car. They waved again as they drove off.

Later at home, when they had gotten into bed Zuko cuddled up to Sokka and laced their fingers on his stomach. 

“My mother said Kiyi has been proposing to the kids in her class.” He said from his chest.

Sokka laughed surprised. “What?”

“Yeah, she says you’ve talked about getting married so much she now thinks that’s just something you talk about all the time.”

“Huh…” He said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should put a stop to that then.”

“Hm? Nah…” Zuko mumbled before kissing a trail of kisses up his neck and over his chin. “It has something… the idea of us getting married one day being so super normal… don’t you think?”

“You know how I feel about that.” Sokka laughed softly. His laughing got cut short by two lips now pressing against his own. 

“One day, baby.”

Sokka nodded. He knew that answer. He was working towards a better answer though. A yes. A soon. A Right now.

He didn’t have everything ready yet though, so for now, One Day was going to have to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think! 🥰🥰🥰


	6. The Ice Skating Rink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a week before Christmas and the boys take Kiyi to the Christmas market and the ice skating rink. It's fun and exhausting and the absolute best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of holiday fun for everyone who is in need of that right now.🥰
> 
> I feel like this is obvious by now but Covid doesn't exist in this universe. I hope the closeness of people doesn't stress anyone out. 💖

The next time Sokka continued with his plan was when the two young men took Kiyi ice skating about a week before Christmas. 

Three weeks after the children’s museum the boys were hoisting a tree into their apartment. Thankfully it was wrapped in a net to minimize the mess and damage. 

Sokka turned on some tunes as Zuko struggled to open up the net without ruining the tree. 

They spent the next hour messing with putting up the tree. 

“Alright. I think it’s good now.” Zuko sighed, wiping sweat off his forehead.

Sokka hung himself around his shoulders and observed the tree from further away. “Yeah… this should be good, right..?”

The tree was… well, not entirely straight. It was standing though, and that was enough. It had a fresh wound and water to drink from, so… it was good. Probably. For now.

As they stood there the next song on Sokka’s playlist started playing; it’s the most wonderful time of the year. He instantly started swaying the two of them.

“Hm yes, gay happy meetings.” He kissed his boyfriend’s cheek. “That sure is true.”

Zuko turned around in his arms and started to sway very slowly. Sokka was instantly smirking. The boy did not like to dance, it made him feel too insecure, but the fact that he was trying… it was everything.

He started swaying a little bit more obvious, hands on hips, eyes shy. 

Sokka pulled him closer and pressed the quickest kiss to his lips, hoping it wouldn’t make him stop dancing. 

“Very gay and very happy meetings.”

Zuko moved his hands up to his neck and pulled him back in. He continued to sway very minimally as he kissed him. Sokka melted into it. The song made it feel like a special moment, just for the two of them. 

Neither of them really celebrated Christmas, but they had both decided, the first year they started living together, that they would decorate and play songs and perhaps get each other 1 present if they could afford it. Just for the sake of change in their boring day to day lives. And for Sokka, it was an excuse to sing his favourite songs at the top of his lungs.

This year they were going to do it a little bit bigger, just because they were together now. Also, they didn’t want to part ways on Christmas eve just to go to their own families. The past years they had already missed each other during those hours. It’s not that they didn’t love the family that they were with, but back then… well the holidays just made their yearning even stronger.

They were going to see them for New Years though. Hakoda and Bato had invited Iroh and Azula, and after some persuading the young woman, they had finally agreed. But for Christmas, it was just the two of them. Just how they liked it.

“Have you decided what you want this year? We only have a week left.” Zuko asked when they finally paused their kissing. 

Sokka was a little bit lost in his love for the guy and couldn’t help himself when he uttered, “You.” 

Zuko was also a little bit lost in the moment, so for once he didn’t sigh or roll his eyes or groan. Instead, he just pulled him back in and kissed him softly.

“You already have me.”

“Then I need nothing this Christmas.” 

Zuko hesitated bringing up a certain thing with rings he’d been talking about for months, but he was afraid to bring down the mood so he decided against it. 

They swayed in silence until the next song started. It was Bring Me Love, by John Legend. Sokka instantly started to dance more wildly.

“I don’t need my stocking filled with toys.” He sang along. He pulled Zuko along to dance more freely. 

“I don’t need no gifts to bring me joy.” Zuko joined in carefully.

“Baby ayay haven’t hung my mistletoe.” Sokka sang loudly.

They continued at the same time. “cause without you baby I can see no point.”

They danced more and more as the song continued. 

“Bring me love this Christmas, because I deserve you here.” Sokka continued to sing along, a little bit out of breath from dancing.

Zuko was enamoured. He didn’t have time to feel that way for long though, Sokka was set on getting him to dance freely. It took him a while, but when he finally got there they were dancing around the whole living room.

Sokka picked up a garland, hung it around Zuko’s neck and continued to dance with it. 

Zuko couldn’t help himself when he joined in the singing too. He didn’t know the words as well as Sokka did. Sokka had been listening to Christmas songs for weeks. He usually listened to them on his way to work and would then bother Zuko when he got them stuck in his head throughout the day.

He didn’t mind it though; they were nice moments. Especially this moment here. Dancing and singing around the room, Christmas decorations around their necks, grinning so much it hurt, it was definitely one of his favourite moments this year.

“How long do we still have?” Sokka asked him while dancing around the tree.

“Another hour or so, I think.” 

“Great!” He exclaimed before continuing to sing. 

They sang and danced and laughed as they decorated the tree. It was a beautiful morning. Hoisting the tree up the stairs of their apartment building hadn’t been great, but this right here made up for all of it and more.

They took a bunch of selfies and sent them to their loved ones. Hakoda demanded a video and so Sokka filmed Zuko dancing as he hung an ornament in the tree. Sokka danced his way over to him, making the video horrible to watch, and then turned his phone around to film them together. He kissed his cheek and looked at the camera. 

“We’re having so much fun!” 

He ended the video and quickly, to make sure Zuko wouldn’t get self-conscious about people seeing him dancing. He sent it to his dads, and also to Ursa because he knew she would love it too.

They continued to dance and sing as they decorated. It took way longer than it needed to, but who really cares if you’re having fun.

Sokka pulled Zuko with him onto the couch with a sigh.

“Wow. I’m exhausted..!”

Zuko laughed. “We need to pick Kiyi up in 30 minutes.”

“30-minute nap?”

“How about a coffee and a cuddle?”

Sokka’s gaze became impossibly loving. “Deal.” 

Zuko got up and pulled Sokka up with him. He protested but as Zuko reminded him that he would fall asleep if he did nothing, he stopped whining.

They made their coffees together, chatting about the holidays and their next outing with Kiyi. 

They were going to the ice-skating rink. As tired as they both were after having way too much fun setting up their tree, they were both very excited about it. They did this every year. It started out as just the two of them, but this was going to be the third year with Kiyi there too. She had loved it the past two times even though she couldn’t skate very well, but since then she had learned to skate really well. The boys couldn’t wait to find out just how great she had become.

They picked up their coffees, made their way back to the couch and cuddled up tightly. It was chilly in their home now that they weren’t dancing anymore. As they sat there all cuddled up they realized their coffees were still too hot to drink, so Zuko put them both down on the side table before getting back to the arms of his boyfriend.

Twenty-five minutes later Zuko’s alarm blared in their ears. They both rushed up and blinked furiously to get used to the light.

“Shit.” 

“We fell asleep.”

It had been so comfortable. They had been so lost in their huddled-up cosiness that they had not only completely forgotten about their coffee; they had also fallen asleep within a few minutes.

“How long do we have?”

“Five minutes max.”

Sokka picked up his mug of coffee and quickly ran to the microwave to heat it up.

Zuko chucked the cold coffee down in 2 seconds, making Sokka grimace. 

“You’re a menace.”

“Me? You’re heating up coffee in the microwave! You’re not supposed to do that..!” 

“Coffee is disgusting cold so it’s better than what you did.”

“Is it though?” Zuko walked over to the counter, grabbed Sokka’s phone and turned on his Christmas playlist again.

Sokka raised an eyebrow, to which Zuko shrugged. “Just getting in the mood again.”

He kissed his forehead as Zuko was looking down at the phone and then walked away to go get his stuff. He drank the heated coffee as slowly as he could while getting ready in two minutes.

“Alright, I’m ready. You?”

“Yup. I’m- what are you wearing?”

“What? Oh, this Santa hat? It’s just to keep my ears warm.”

Zuko shook his head and pulled him in by his waist. “I can’t believe you sometimes.” 

“It’s just cause I’m unbelievable.” He replied with his chin held high.

“That you are.” His boyfriend agreed as he grabbed his hand. He pressed a kiss to his knuckles before pulling him along.

When they picked up their favourite little girl she happily hugged and kissed them both. 

“Ah. You’re still a fan of kisses then.”

“Always!” She proclaimed proudly.

Sokka ruffled her hair with a laugh. “You and me both, sweetie.”

Zuko took her bag from his mother and got a quick kiss on the cheek. In the meantime, Kiyi had climbed up on Sokka’s back and they were running around the car while singing another Christmas song _very_ loudly. It could barely be called singing, to be honest.

Zuko rolled his eyes and smiled at his mom. “Time for some chaos in the car.”

“Get your boyfriend to send me a video.” She smiled mischievously. She knew he still got flustered when other people called Sokka his boyfriend. It had been almost a year but if people outside their little bubble-for-two mentioned the fact that they were dating… it still felt both unreal and too intimate of a thing to share. 

Somehow yearning for so long had made him feel like the past 10 months had been a dream instead of reality. 

His mother ruffled his hair and told him to go have fun. 

“I will, I will.” He said with a laugh. “Oh, and I will… get him to uh send a video.”

“Good.”

As expected, the drive to the skating rink was their usual chaos, multiplied by 10 due to the season.

They were singing, and dancing enough to shake the car. They were laughing and grinning and instead of just sending one video, Sokka sent several. To Ursa, to Katara, to Hakoda, anyone who might want to see them being insane together.

When he stopped at yet another traffic light Zuko pulled Sokka in for a quick kiss.

“Hm! What’s that for?” He shimmied as he talked.

“I just realized you’re being ridiculous is all.”

“Hm… That’s fair.” Sokka wanted to pull him in for more, but unfortunately, the light turned green.

They parked the car in the city so that they could enjoy the Christmas market that led to the ice skating rink. It was packed with people to the point of it being too much, but the feeling in the air made up for it.

It was chilly and a dark day overall but huddling up made it feel even better.

After losing Kiyi in the crowd several times they decided to just carry her around. It was heavy but so much easier than demanding her to keep holding hands with one of them. Plus she kept asking one of them to lift her up just so she could see the stalls.

They did have to keep switching between the two of them because she was, well, a healthy 6-year-old. As much as Zuko did not want to admit it, Sokka was stronger than him, and so he was carrying her around most of the time.

This was the absolute best for Sokka, because she was hanging her arms around his neck and peppering the side of his face with kisses every couple minutes.

The bad thing was that sometimes she would see something cool or tasty and she would scream right into his ear.

The other good part of Sokka carrying around the little girl most of the time, was that Zuko now had more of an option to quickly slip away and deal with Sokka’s Christmas present.

He had made a deal with Kiyi that she would keep him distracted for a while. Just so he could go to a woodcarver stand by himself and not spoil the surprise.

“I’m just gonna go to a stand back there, you keep going, I’ll be right back.” He said with a hand on Sokka’s arm.

“Oh, we can come with you.”

“Oh no, you don’t have t-”

“Ahh gingerbread!!!” Kiyi screamed enthusiastically.

Zuko grinned at his little sister and then quickly told Sokka to just go look at the gingerbread with her, he’d be right back.

Kiyi gave her brother a totally obvious thumbs up, but Sokka hadn’t even seen it.

He quickly made his way through the crowd to the woodcarver’s stand and pulled out a drawing. He had brought a _detailed_ drawing of what he wanted it to look like. It was a boomerang with carvings of the two of them at either end. And then another two of them a little bit further to the middle, this time running towards each other. And then in the middle, it was the two of them holding hands with a heart above them.

It was sappy. Oh so sappy. Except it didn’t matter because he knew Sokka loved everything handmade, and especially handmade things that were personal and sappy.

He paid for half of it in advance, got an estimated time of when it would be done, and then he quickly hurried back over to the gingerbread stand.

“Hey, what did I miss?” He said with a hand on Sokka’s back.

“Oh, just me telling her she can’t have gingerbread yet because we’re going skating first.”

“But I want it!!!” She whined loudly.

Zuko took his sister from his boyfriend’s arms. “Kiyi sweetie, he said not yet. We’ll get you some on the way back, okay?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her..!”

Kiyi sassily placed a hand on her hip. “Only if I can have the big heart!”

Sokka rolled his eyes and leant in to kiss her cheek. “I’ve already told you, _several times_ , that you’ll get the big heart. Just not now.”

She pouted dramatically and breathed in deeply to protest, but her brother stopped her with a finger to her lips.

“No. We’re not protesting. We’re going to say thank you and move on to the next stall.”

The little girl deflated against her brother’s chest. “Okay…” She mumbled into his neck.

Sokka let go of a quiet sigh. Finally.

They continued on to the next few stands and then slowly but surely made their way over to the ice skating rink. Thankfully, it wasn’t far.

While at the ice skating rink, which was outside in a square and absolutely loaded with lights, Zuko rented skates for Sokka and himself. They didn’t have enough space at home to buy two pairs. Not having enough space made him think of buying a house together. Again. He had been thinking about that a lot lately.

In the meantime, Sokka was struggling to put Kiyi’s skates on her feet. Were they supposed to be this tight or had they gotten too small? Or maybe it was just because she was too busy dancing to the songs. Or maybe because the blades looked so sharp he didn’t dare to touch them.

Maybe they should buy those protective covers for them as an extra little present this year. Just so nobody could get hurt.

When they had finally managed to put on all of the skates they carefully made their way to the ice.

Sokka fell backwards flat on his ass within the first five seconds. Kiyi, on the other hand, skated away without any trouble. Sure she had been practising, but she was six..! Six-year-olds shouldn’t be that good at ice skating, right?

Zuko skated a tiny circle, testing out how the skates felt, and then moved back over to Sokka to pull him up.

“Thanks, babe. Let’s find our girl.”

Well, let’s just say they tried. Sokka slipped and fell several times, Zuko slipped twice trying to hoist him back up, and one time Sokka slipped and forgot to let go of Zuko’s hands, so they tumbled down together.

When they had finally caught up to their favourite little girl she had already skated around several times. She was doing fantastic except for the part where she wasn’t paying attention to the people around her at all. Naturally. She had skated into children with the little penguin helpers _several_ times.

Thankfully those moments weren’t too serious, but one time, an adult going way too fast than should be allowed, almost ran her over. Sokka had to hold Zuko back in order to not create a scene. Zuko was absolutely fuming.

The man was skating on professional skates and those things are so extremely sharp he could’ve cut off her fingers. The guy didn’t even stop or apologize.

Zuko was about to yell at him even more, and maybe even use certain fingers to show just how angry he was. Sokka had to hold onto his waist and attempt to skate backwards in order to get him to not full-on attack the man.

Zuko was, mostly, in control of his anger nowadays. He had gotten lots of help over the years, but someone hurting his little sister? He would never be okay with that.

“Babe, she’s fine.”

“He hurt her!”

“She’s fine, look at her, she’s already skating again.”

Zuko looked over and did a double-take as soon as he saw her happily skating around in circles.

Sokka turned him around in his arms and pulled him as close as their skates allowed them. He moved his hands to his cheeks and held them gently for a quiet moment.

“I know you love her a lot. She knows it too. But that doesn’t mean we have to fight with a random stranger.”

Zuko nodded, heaving a sigh to calm himself. “I know.”

“We only pick a fight if she actually gets hurt. And in that case, I will gladly join you.”

Zuko pulled a disapproving face. “That’s terrible. The example that sets for Kiyi is… really bad.”

They quietly laughed together.

“We’d just have to tell her not to copy us.”

Zuko pulled him closer. “You know damn well she will.”

“Shush you and let me kiss you.”

“Anytime. Well, almost any time.”

“Almost?” Sokka gasped.

Zuko rolled his eyes. “Will you just kiss me?”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Zuko shook his head and wanted to call him ridiculous again, but before he could do so Sokka was already pressing soft kisses to his lips.

He couldn’t help but pull him closer. Kiyi was safe here, she couldn’t just run away with her skates on so they could linger a little while, right?

They ended up spending actual hours skating around, and when Sokka had finally figured it all out, dancing around as well.

“How come you’re so bad at this? You grew up with plenty of ice around you, you must have gone ice skating loads..!”

“Hey, just because I did it a lot doesn’t mean I was any good at it.” He huffed, blowing a strand of hair up into the hair, just to fall back down in his face.

Zuko pushed the strand back into his Santa hat and kissed his freezing nose.

“I just thought you’d learn eventually.”

“Look, Katara was amazing at it. She was a natural. One day she got on the ice and she was absolutely fantastic and I was… okay.” He pushed Zuko away a little bit, just to skate after him. “I guess that should’ve made me want to practice a lot to get just as good, but after trying for a couple of years I just… didn’t get any better so I stopped trying.”

“That’s fair,” Zuko said as he grabbed his hand.

“Thanks babe.” Sokka beamed at him.

His boyfriends squeezed his hand and then pulled him along to keep skating.

Kiyi was dancing wildly to one of the Christmas songs and Sokka instantly decided to join her. It looked crazy, neither of them was any good at dancing.

After a while of watching them dance, Zuko decided it was time for some hot cocoa, since he was freezing from his wet clothes and the fact that it had started snowing.

He carefully made his way off the ice and over to the hot chocolate stand. He ordered three with loads of whipped cream and marshmallows and then very carefully made his way to the railing of the ice rink.

He put down the drinks, waved at Sokka and then made them skate over to him. He pulled out his phone to film Sokka skating over to her, grabbing her hand and them skating towards him happily. They both waved at the camera when they noticed he was filming.

“Hi, mom!” Kiyi called out loudly from too far away.

“Who says it’s for mom?” Her brother asked when they had arrived in front of him.

“Who else would it be for?”

“Me and Sokka.”

She took a moment to think and then just shrugged and said “Nah.”

The adults shared a look of, _wtf why is she so weird_ , and then laughed.

“Alright then, say bye mom.”

“Bye, mommy..!” She chimed as she tried to crawl up Sokka’s leg without being careful about her ice skates.

“Ow Kiyi..!” Sokka whined carefully, trying his best to not show just how much it hurt.

Zuko quickly told her off and demanded to get back down again.

“Drink your hot chocolate before the whipped cream gets all over me.”

She took the mug from him and smooshed her face right into the whipped cream without a second thought. They all laughed at her and Sokka quickly pulled out his phone to take a photo.

She then continued to demand the boys smush their faces into the whipped cream as well just so they could take a silly selfie.

And well, they couldn’t say no to that. They loved each and every selfie they’d ever taken with her. _Especially_ the silly ones.

They continued to drink their cocoa and chat about all sorts of things. Sokka took a couple more photos because it was just so cosy and nice with all the fairy lights everywhere.

He sent some of them to loved ones, but kept some of them for himself.

When all of the hot cocoa was finished and two of the three mugs were returned, they got back to skating and dancing.

At one point there was a polonaise of people rocking it out to Sleigh Ride. Kiyi happily joined them, and skated over so fast she crashed into the person in front of her, almost dominoing the whole group over.

After the two young men were done laughing, and coughing from laughing so much, they joined in the polonaise. But not before taking a cute little video of Kiyi dancing along with the strangers. For themselves and for her parents.

They were all singing along. Even Zuko despite other people being able to hear him.

They all danced and sang and laughed and it was just such a fantastic memory that they were making. Sokka spent a couple of seconds feeling sad as he thought, _I’m going to miss this moment so much_ , but then he realized he could have moments like these over and over. The realisation made him so happy he couldn’t quite contain himself.

They continued to skate happily, wildly, terribly, and while loudly singing along with all of the songs. They danced, they played, they teased. They laughed till their tummies were hurting.

In these moments Zuko was feeling more free than he had probably ever felt. Thankfully, it was something he didn’t realise at the time. There was no moment of freezing and horror and sadness. Just moments of freezing cold and fun.

Sokka was aware of it. Even though they had had so many fun times together, he had never seen him like this. He was almost _too_ aware of it. He tried not to show just how much that made him ache, just so Zuko didn’t have to realise it.

They’d have time for those emotional moments later. At home. Where he could hold his face in his hands and kiss his skin till he sobbed. They could talk about it and he could hold him through it all, and then they could laugh from the exhaustion of it all. They could fall asleep in each other’s arms and be okay the day after.

For now, though, he just wanted to skate around and have fun. He just wanted to see his gorgeous smile, and for the lights to glisten in his eyes. He wanted to hear him sing and laugh and see him dance. It made him ache, but in a good way.

He joined back in with all the fun and happiness he was still feeling himself too. He grinned and skated right into Zuko to kiss him quickly before hurrying away as fast as he could.

Zuko gasped at Kiyi and then skated after him. He was fast. He was good at ice skating, just like his little sister. He raced around the rink until he had reached him. He grabbed his ridiculous Santa hat and continued to skate away faster than Sokka could keep up with.

After chasing after each other for a whole lap, Zuko was slowing down, because skating this fast with all these kids here was dangerous, but Sokka hadn’t seen that. He had to swerve around him to not crash right into him, but…. right behind Zuko… was Kiyi.

His eyes widened. “Shit!” He exclaimed when he realized there was no way to go around her or break in time.

Thankfully, Zuko had absolutely insane reflexes and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from her just in time. The speed with which he was skating resulted in Zuko pulling him right into his own chest and them tumbling down onto the ice.

After checking if everyone was okay Zuko laughed at his boyfriend.

Sokka just kissed him right into the ice.

“Where would I be without you?” He gazed at him for a moment, thinking about how Zuko completed him. About how he made him so incredibly happy. And about how, in idiotic moments like this, he was always there to stop him from accidentally harming anyone.

“I should marry you just to make sure I’ll never lose you.”

Zuko’s face turned impossibly soft underneath him, and for a moment he couldn’t help but pull him in and kiss him softly. Afterwards, he looked up at him with dooey eyes as he shook his head.

He thought of giving his usual answer. The easy two-word reply that Sokka knew by heart. Except it had almost been a year and things had only gotten better and better, and maybe, perhaps, Zuko was starting to think about being ready for the next step.

He knew Sokka had been joking all these times. _Well_ , he thought that. He actually hadn’t been joking once, and if Sokka had had the ring, at any point in the past few months, he would’ve proposed for real every single one of these times.

Zuko didn’t know that though. He thought Sokka had just been his teasing self, joking about proposals every couple weeks, just to try to fluster him. And so, in this moment, as he was thinking that it was both a joke and something he wanted for real at the same time, he knew just what to say. Both to speak his mind, and to fluster the boy back for once.

“You should.”

Sokka’s eyes grew wide. His mouth opened slowly and he blinked at him soundlessly. His cheeks were suddenly so warm he didn’t feel like he was out in the cold being snowed on anymore.

When he finally got his brain to function again he hurried back down to pepper him in small kisses. Zuko laughed at him and then pulled him in to kiss him deeply.

This wasn’t a real proper proposal, but maybe they actually saw eye to eye on this subject now. It was still early, and probably still too soon, but after all this time… Zuko didn’t care anymore. So he pulled him close and kissed him while his back was soaking wet and freezing as he laid there on the ice.

He kissed him properly right in the middle of the ice-rink until Kiyi smugly called out an “Ew!”

They backed away with a laugh. Sokka got up and pulled Zuko up with him.

“Why ew? Can’t I kiss my boyfriend?” Zuko asked his little sister with a gasp.

“No, you can’t.” A man spoke up from behind her. “It’s disgusting. Men should never kiss.”

Sokka sighed, Zuko tried his best not to react at all, and Kiyi… well Kiyi straightened up in an instant and flew towards the man. 

“Don’t you say that! It’s not disgusting! They are in love and it’s beautiful!” She punched him in the leg so hard the two young men hurried over to her to make sure the man wouldn’t hurt her.

“Kiyi, it’s okay. Leave him.”

“You’ve ruined your child with your disgusting behaviour.”

“She is my sister and more importantly, your opinion of me and him is in no way important to me, my fiancée, or our quality of life. We will be happy together no matter how much you hate it.”

Sokka was absolutely mesmerized by Zuko’s outburst _and_ his choice of words. He hadn’t been this confident about their relationship yet, but perhaps more importantly… he used a very specific word to describe him.

When the man left with an angry huff Sokka was clutching onto his arm.

“Fiancée?”

“Oh shut it you..! Boyfriend would have sounded less impressive.”

“It’s still in your head though.” Sokka teased.

“Just be happy I love you.”

“I am baby, I am.” He kissed his cheek for good measure.

They decided they had skated quite enough for today. Just so they didn’t have to deal with some rando trying to ruin their fun. So they left the rink, returned the skates and then spent 5 minutes walking in small circles to try to get used to shoes again.

They tried their best not to sit and rest, because they knew the exhaustion would hit them in an instant.

As they started walking towards the market Zuko checked his phone. He tried his very best to hide his giddiness when he saw the text from the woodcarver. The present was done. Oh, how he couldn’t wait to give it to him.

He pulled Kiyi back into his arms, even though they were now hurting beyond words from carrying her around, and quietly told her to distract Sokka again.

“Hey, we were gonna buy her the gingerbread heart, right?”

Sokka sighed as quietly as he could and shot Zuko a look of, _did you have to remind her of that?_ Zuko just laughed and kissed his cheek before handing Kiyi over to him.

“I forgot the ask a question at the other stall, so I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Yeah sure, we can come with you, though?”

“No it’s all good, you get her and us some gingerbread.”

Zuko quickly hurried into the crowd before Sokka could protest and come with him after all.

He made his way to the stand, almost screamed at how perfect the end result was, and quickly paid for it while thanking the man about a hundred times.

The man laughed warmly. “I hope he likes it.”

“He will. He’s gonna love it.”

Now that he had seen the end result he especially couldn’t wait to give it to him. Too bad he had to wait another week.

He quickly packed it away and then pushed his way through the crowd back to his two favourite people.

They weren’t at the gingerbread stand anymore, but instead had moved over to the stand next to it selling all kind of cheeses and meats.

Sokka was about a hair removed from foaming at the mouth as he looked at all the meat.

“Babe.” He said when he could feel Zuko’s hands on his waist. “Can we get some?”

“Why are you asking me? If you want some, go buy some.”

“I was kind of hoping for you to tell me not to spend my money on things like these, to be honest.”

“We have plenty of money together, if this makes you happy you can buy it.”

He tilted his cheek up for a kiss, smiled at him, and then bought ten different kinds of meat. Maybe it was a bit much, but Zuko had gotten used to that with Sokka. He had some issues when it came to shopping, but it was nothing they couldn’t afford.

On their way back to Ursa and Noren, Kiyi had, as per usual, passed out again. She was snoring so loudly she kept both adults wide awake. Which was probably for the better.

Not that Zuko would fall asleep while driving, but keeping Sokka up too did allow from them to have some cute moments talking about their fun day. They were happy. These were memories and photos they would cherish for the rest of their lives.

When they finally arrived back home the collapsed onto the couch together.

“Can we just go to bed immediately?”

“Don’t you wanna try your meats?”

Sokka piped up instantly, but then looked over at Zuko and relaxed again. “Nah, we can taste them together tomorrow.” He shuffled over and cuddled up to his side. “For now, I’d like to just cuddle.”

Zuko nodded as he wrapped his arms around him tightly and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea.”

And well, it was for a while. Until they woke up the next morning in an impossible position with quite literally every muscle in their bodies aching.

They burst out laughing the moment they locked eyes.

It was all worth it. Every hint of exhaustion and aching was worth it for all the fun and sweet moments they had.

They couldn’t wait for more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts. Love y'all! 💖


	7. The Spring Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final, and perhaps first official time, that Sokka mentioned getting married was on their one year anniversary. Zuko had told him to wait a year, and so here he was. He had waited a year and he was beyond ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it took me a little while to write this last one..! My brain has been a little bit occupied by a tinman and his green son... But here we are! The final chapter! I really hope you like it! 💖

Late at night, the evening before the big day Sokka left all of a sudden. It confused Zuko greatly, but Sokka didn’t explain it to him.

“What are you doing?” Zuko asked confused.

“I’m gonna run some errands.” He replied as if it was nothing. As if it wasn't past 9 pm.

Zuko nodded, brows furrowed, it was a little bit late for those.

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere.”

“Okay… will you be late?”

Sokka thought for a moment. “Nah, I don’t think so.”

Zuko was still confused, and somehow felt like something was wrong, but he accepted it in the end. He trusted him.

Sokka walked over to hold his face in his hands and kiss his lips. He promised him that everything was alright, because he knew he was worried. He just had some important things to discuss with a certain six-year-old before he went through with his plan.

“I love you.” There’s something to his voice that Zuko couldn’t place. Was that bad..?

“I love you too, Sokka.”

He left quickly, he hated the way Zuko was looking at him.

He drove to Ursa and Noren’s house, but felt bad the entire ride there. He wondered what Zuko thought he was doing.

While at his soon to be in-laws, he discussed his plan with them. They made a banner, chose her outfit, discussed what Kiyi had to do, and especially tried their best to make her understand she could _not_ _under any circumstances_ tell Zuko about the plan.

After Kiyi went to bed Sokka spent some time with Ursa going through photos of Sokka’s potential outfit and Ursa promised she’d make sure to go through the plan a couple of times with Kiyi so she wouldn’t mess things up. 

At the end of the night, Sokka was lying awake in bed, beyond nervous and regretting involving Kiyi. Not because she was going to be bad at it, but because there was a really big chance she was going to give it all away before he could ask him. Why did he choose to involve a 6-year-old…?

The next morning Sokka was exhausted. He had barely slept at all. He was beyond nervous.

Zuko could tell something was up, but once again, just like the night before, he couldn’t place what it was. It made him nervous. What had he been up to the night before..? He trusted him but… well, his anxiety was through the roof.

There was an uncomfortable tension in the room the whole morning.

They picked up Kiyi with a different mood than usual too. Ursa picked up on it immediately and tried her best not to give anything away.

“Have fun today you three.” She smiled from the doorway.

“We will!” Sokka exclaimed happily. Well, hopefully, that’s what it sounded like. He wasn’t entirely sure. He was just too damn nervous to be able to control his voice.

He fidgeted the whole way to the fair. They were going to a spring fair and it was going to be fun, and warm and great. Right? This was the right place to do this right? And the right time? Why was he second-guessing everything?

When Zuko stopped at another traffic light he let out a sigh.

“Okay. What’s going on?” He looked over with an expression that told Sokka there was no way out of this conversation.

“Hm? What?” He tried.

“You’re fidgeting.”

“Oh uh.. yeah I’m just.. just excited to go.” He smiled his best smile. “I heard they’re going to have some farm animals there that you’re allowed to pet and you know how she gets around animals. Especially ones she can touch.”

Zuko smiled, feeling slightly relieved. “Right. Yes, that does sound fun.” There’s still a knot in his stomach.

He wanted to ask where he had gone the night before. _Somewhere_ wasn’t good enough. Could he ask it now that he was back?

“Hey, Sokka…?” He asked quietly as he continued to drive. He purposely didn’t use a pet name. “Where were you last night?”

Sokka froze. Zuko sounded defeated. Before he could think of what to say Kiyi piped up.

“He was with us!”

“Kiyi!” Sokka exclaimed panicked before he could stop himself.

“Oh sorry..!” Kiyi shrunk in her seat. “There was just pictures and Soso and mommy-”

Sokka struggled to turn around in his seat. “Kiyi..! Stop talking..!” He tried to reach his hand far enough to cover her mouth. She kept turning away.

“Kiyi, please.” He begged, feeling defeated. He wasn’t sure what he would do if Kiyi gave it all away right here in the car. He wasn’t sure what Zuko would do either. What if it shocked him so much he hit the brakes? That’s terribly dangerous.

Zuko finally spoke up, his voice both stern and amused. “Kiyi, you have to stop talking now or I’m turning the car around.”

She stopped immediately. Finally.

Sokka turned back to face his boyfriend with a thankful face.

“Thanks, babe.”

“I’m sorry I pressed it. I… I thought you were with someone else…”

It took a moment for Sokka to realise what he meant. “Wait… What? Zuko, no..! No, I would never..!”

“I know..! I know you wouldn’t but…”

“You have anxiety, I know babe.” He smiled sympathetically. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you a clearer answer.”

Zuko reached his hand out to hold onto Sokka’s as he continued to drive. They were okay. There was no need for worrying. He was just up to no good, as per usual.

Zuko sighed out his last ounce of worry and then squeezed Sokka’s hand.

“Let’s go have some fun.”

Sokka brought their hands up to his lips and kissed his knuckles.

“Yeah, let’s.”

And they did. They had a blast walking around the stalls. It reminded them of the Christmas market but this time warmer and less crowded. Everywhere around them, flowers were blooming. There was a sweet smell in the air. It was perfect.

Sokka was getting more and more giddy as the day went on. Everything was going perfectly. So far. The only thing was, well, he had been walking around with the ring in his pocket all this time. His plan was to find a nice box at the market, buy it, and put the ring into it. It had proven more difficult than he had anticipated. It wasn’t, perhaps, the best plan, but he was confident.

He did find something eventually. It was late, but it was perfect. He couldn’t ask for anything more. Well, perhaps maybe a big fat yes to a certain question, but he was getting to that.

Before that though, they had made their way over to where all the animals were kept. Kiyi screamed at the top of her lungs the moment she saw a sheep.

The moment Zuko spotted the sheep he had to suppress a sigh. He knew exactly what Sokka’s next words were going to be.

“You know, I still think sheep should only be plural.”

Zuko sighed. Well, he hadn’t exactly suppressed that sigh for long…

“Hmhm. I know. Yeah definitely.” Zuko said as Sokka rambled on.

“I just think it should work just like goose geese, it should be one shoop and two sheep.”

Zuko shared a look of annoyance with Kiyi. “He’s still on that?” Kiyi whispered to her big brother. He laughed quietly in reply.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Hey, it just makes sense, okay..? Although it would make the shoop shoop song a little bit odd, but hey who says you can’t love a shoop? Or even several sheep?”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “I cannot believe I’m in love with you.”

Sokka melted almost instantly. “I still can’t believe it either, baby.” He slid his hand into his neck and then pulled him close for a quick kiss.

“You are my everything,” Sokka whispered to his lips.

“You are my pain in the ass,” Zuko said smugly before kissing him again.

Sokka wanted to pretend to be hurt by that comment, but his love was just so sweet. The fact that he once again confirmed that he was in love with him was like the icing on the cake. It was everything he could possibly need to hear to know that his plan for today was going to work.

They continued on into the petting area and watched as Kiyi ran around and quickly petted every single animal. All the animals got a quick pat-pat before she hurried over to the next.

“Don’t you want to just sit down with one of them?” Zuko asked with a chuckle. He was feeling so light after his worries had all faded away.

Kiyi’s eyes turned big. “I can do that?”

“Yes, that’s what they’re here for..!” Sokka laughed too.

She chose a baby alpaca. The boys weren’t sure how good this was for the little one, but she was very soft so they stayed with her and kept petting her anyway.

It had all been great and very sweet until she spat on Sokka. Kiyi and Zuko laughed for minutes. Sokka tried his best to laugh along but in his gut, he was feeling a little bit down. He was going to have to propose with gross alpaca spit on his beautiful outfit….

To add to the pain he, of course, had to walk backwards into a goat who headbutted him so hard he fell to the ground. That was definitely going to be bruised for a long time. And again, his outfit was ruined…

Kiyi should know how terrible this was for him, but well, she was a toddler, so she just laughed in his face. Zuko had no idea how awful this was for him. He just laughed and pulled him up off the ground.

“You’re an idiot, come here.” He dusted off his clothes before placing both his hands on his shoulders and scanning his face. “You good?”

Sokka nodded, forcing a smile. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Zuko nodded, moved his hands to his cheeks and pecked his lips. “Good.”

That helped actually, the small public displays of affection. Zuko was growing more and more confident being in love out in the open. It warmed his heart greatly.

They continued to make their way around the petting area hand in hand. Kiyi was still trying her best to pet as many animals as she could even though she had most definitely already petted them all.

“Oh no..! I haven’t hugged that one yet..!” She exclaimed pointing at another goat. She absolutely had but they let her run over to it anyway. It was absolutely adorable to look at.

Zuko found himself thinking about having kids again. It was a nice thought. He held onto Sokka’s hand just a little tighter.

Sokka looked over at him and smiled. “She’s still so cute.”

“What do you mean still?” Zuko chuckled.

“I mean, after all this time, after hanging out all the time and seeing her basically every week… she’s still just so darn cute.”

“You’re just saying that because you want to be a father.”

“Well, don’t you?”

“Oh definitely, that’s exactly what I was just thinking of…” He paused, regretting saying that. He knew damn well Sokka was never going to drop that. “…but that doesn’t mean you can just mention that every single time you’re thinking of it.

“Why not?” Sokka said, stopping him and wrapping his arms around his waist.

“Because… it’s… a lot.”

Sokka kissed his cheek and winked at him. “That’s fair. I’ll keep it all to myself then.” He instantly let go and walked off to play with Kiyi.

Oh. Well, that wasn’t what he meant. He loved talking about having kids later. He just… didn’t want to hear about it every single day and for hours upon hours… It was fine though, because now he had the time to just stand there and look at his two favourite people. They were so cute.

Sokka played around with her and teased her and Kiyi teased him right back. It was the sweetest thing in the world. He let himself fall down on a bail of hay and leant on his hand as he looked at them.

While he sat there gazing, a cat jumped up on his lap and curled up comfortably. He looked down at it. How cute was that? He gently placed his other hand on the cat, who immediately started purring.

Hm… maybe they should get a cat. They should visit the local shelter sometime soon.

Zuko looked back up and locked eyes with Sokka. They both grinned at each other. Zuko because Sokka was being cute, and Sokka because Zuko had a cat on his lap and well.. that was cute too.

They spent another 30 minutes there just simply hanging out, until they realized it was getting dark.

Well crap, he still had to propose. They had been having so much fun that for a little while… he had actually forgotten about it…

He whispered to Kiyi that it was time. She grinned up at him and instantly jumped to her feet.

Sokka grabbed Zuko’s hand as the stalls around them started turning on their fairy lights.

 _Oh_. Sokka though. _That was perfect._

He led Zuko and Kiyi to a bench under a big, blooming tree that was filled with little lights. It was utterly romantic.

He let the two of them sit down on the bench as he stood there, one hand in his pocket, the little box rolling around in his hand.

He attempted to chat lightly to not give away what he was about to do, but unfortunately, he was just coming across as nervous.

When he noticed Zuko was frowning up at him, his eyes concerned, he decided to just go for it. He looked up at the tree with the pretty lights, listened to the quiet music coming from somewhere near them, and felt the chilly breeze on his skin. He was ready. He breathed in deeply and then pulled the box out of his pocket.

“Hey babe, look at this box I bought earlier..!”

Zuko turned away from his little sister to look at it.

“Oh, that’s very pretty.”

He wanted to say they didn’t need it, Sokka had been buying too many things all day, but he realised it had already been paid for.

“You should see the inside too, it's so cool..!” Sokka said, way too giddy for his own good. He was going to give himself away before he got to actually ask the question. 

Zuko narrowed his eyes at him, his gut told him there was something going on, but even after the past six joke-proposals he still didn’t think to expect this.

He opened the box and as his eyes landed on the ring inside, Sokka got down on one knee, and Kiyi pulled out a banner with rainbows and hearts saying - ** _will you marry me?_** -

Zuko’s eyes widened.

Sokka smiled at him with tears in his eyes. 

“Zuko. Baby. It took us a while to get there, but I have loved you for the past seven years of our lives. I know I will love you for the rest of the years that you will have me, so it only makes sense, after the past six failed attempts, that the seventh proposal is the real deal too. Zuko, I love you. Will you marry me?”

Zuko had tears streaming down his face. After all the joke-proposals he had been hoping for a real one. He wanted this too. Though his head kept telling him to wait, his heart told him it was time. They might have only dated for a year, but they had been in love for six years before that. He knew he was the one, he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, he knew, to his core, that the answer was a very simple three-letter word, and yet… That’s not the answer that he gave.

“Sokka.” He closed the box, put it on the bench and then stood up before pulling Sokka up to his feet. Sokka frowned. For possibly the first time in his life he had been so sure of the answer but…. This was not it.

“Sokka, I love you.”

“but…?” Sokka asked, his voice small.

“No.”

Sokka’s heart sank.

“Oh…”

Zuko, while shaking his head in disbelieve, observed his face and started to panic the moment he saw the disappointment on his face. He looked down and found Kiyi clinging to his leg, her face sad.

“Wait wait wait. I’m not saying no. I don’t mean no as in I won’t marry you, I mean no as in there is no but!” He took his face in his hands. “Babe I love you. I want to spend every minute of my life with you.” 

Sokka pulled a face.

Zuko rolled his eyes.

“Okay, maybe not _every_ minute... But close..!” He turned around and took the ring out of the box. He handed it to Sokka and earned a confused look. He blushed. This was not how he wanted this to go. He had wanted to ask him actually. He was bad at answering questions, he was way better at asking them.

“Put it on me.” He demanded, both his hands covering Sokka’s.

Sokka’s eyes watered once more. “So?”

“What? You mean you don’t know yet? Yes! Of course, the answer is yes!”

“You don’t want to wait?” 

“Oh shut up, Sokka, you know _darn_ well my brain is telling me to wait but sometimes it’s stupid to listen to your brain.”

“That’s good advice to give Kiyi.” Sokka joked. 

“Oh shut up and kiss me.”

“So…. just to be clear… the answer is yes?”

Zuko couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes! Good god Sokka, yes yes yes! The answer is yes!” He was probably yelling by now, but the more he said the word yes the more he started to realise that another one of his dreams was coming true.

Sokka launched himself into his arms and kissed him deeply. Kiyi cheered from next to them. Their self-made banner on the dirty ground by now.

“I love you,” Sokka whispered with his eyes closed. Their foreheads were pressed together and they kept holding each other close. 

“I love you more.”

“I love you to the moon.”

“I love you to the stars.”

“I love you to the next galaxy.”

“I love you to the last galaxy.” He rubbed their noses together. “…and back.”

Sokka snorted. “You’re cheesy.”

Zuko nodded, he remembered that moment, a year ago almost to the day. “And you’re eggy.” He said just like he had back then. This time it was Zuko who rubbed their noses together and gazed into his eyes. He pulled him closer and kissed him again. And again. And again.

“Well, that was a train-wreck!” Kiyi said loudly from next to them. 

The two young men backed away from each other with a surprised laugh.

“What?”

“Where did you learn that?”

“You said no! And then yes! That’s bad Zuzu.”

Zuko blushed. “I just panicked okay..! There was so much I wanted to say..! And then I thought I don’t have time to say all these things, and that lead me to thinking about how I was thinking I wanted to ask you, cause for me asking questions is way easier than answering..! and then I thought oh no what if I had planned it and you beat me to it! And then I thought that’s stupid that’s not what happened and-”

Sokka pulled him in by his cheeks.

“She’s right. You’re a train wreck.”

“Me? She didn’t say you’re a train wreck, she said the whole thing was a train wreck.”

Sokka shrugged. “Only because you couldn’t get out of your head long enough to give me a three-letter answer.”

“You’re never going to let me forget about this, are you?”

“Nope.” Sokka’s eyes, as he said that, were impossibly loving. Zuko couldn’t help but melt. He closed his eyes and leant into Sokka’s grip.

“I love you.”

Sokka beamed at him until he opened his eyes.

“I love you too!”

They gazed at each other for a moment, with big grins on their faces.

“I do have one question though…” Zuko asked after the moment passed. “What did you mean with 6 failed proposals?”

Sokka’s eyes widened. “What..? No… Zuko…! You were there for all of them..!”

Zuko laughed. “Well, obviously..! But you’re not… you can’t… you’re not telling me all those jokes about getting married were you trying to propose for real..!”

“What if I was?”

Zuko blinked at him. It took his brain a moment to come up with a reply.

“Well, then you’d be a way bigger train wreck than I am..! If those were serious you were really, really bad at… well, everything.” Zuko laughed at the memories.

“Excuse me?!” Sokka exclaimed with his usual drama.

“Babe. You can’t tell me that saying, Hey do you think one of the octopus’s rings is a wedding ring, is an actual proposal..! Where was the ring? Why didn’t you get down on one knee? There were so many things that made it obvious it was a joke..!”

Sokka laughed with his eyes closed; he was absolutely right.

“Look. Maybe they were all bad. But I was also testing the waters..! I wanted to make sure you wanted this before asking you..! I wanted to be sure that you’d say yes..!”

Zuko shook his head again and then wrapped his arms around Sokka’s neck, pulling him closer. “And then I still messed it up, huh?”

Sokka rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Typical you.”

Zuko gasped just as dramatically as Sokka usually did, and then he kissed him fully on the lips.

“I love you, too.” Then he turned to Kiyi and hugged her tightly. “And I love you, too. Thank you for being a part of this.” He kissed her cheek and she grinned proudly.

“Wait…” He said, turning back towards Sokka. “…this was why you were with her last night?”

Sokka laughed and hugged the little girl close as well. “Yes..!”

“Oh god and that why you’ve been so out of it..!”

“Yes, I was putting together outfits and we made the banner and all that and then I drove home and thought, she’s gonna say it before I have the chance.”

“She almost did.”

“Yes, she almost did!”

They all laughed happily. Every single one of them beyond glad that she hadn’t spilled the beans all day.

Sokka pulled out a small camera and quickly took a photo of Zuko without warning him. Then he took a photo of the dirty banner on the ground, of Kiyi, of the ring on Zuko’s hand, and then a selfie of the three of them together.

He was already making a wedding gift. He had been for a few months now. It had photos and stories of all their dates and all their outings with Kiyi, and most importantly, all the times he tried to propose _jokingly_.

He was going to give it to him on their wedding day. Whenever that may be.

As they walked past the fair, back towards the car, they held hands the entire time. Zuko even, at one point, called Sokka his _fiancée_. Sokka absolutely melted and couldn’t help but pull him in for a kiss the second the woman looked away.

“I love you.”

Zuko let go of a soft, happy sigh before brushing some hair out of his face.

“And I love you.” He looked from eye to eye before adding, “my fiancée.” Just to try it out again.

Sokka’s eyes rolled back into his head as he smiled and let himself fall against Zuko’s chest. A moment later he moved away to look at his face and shake his head happily. He peppered his cheek in kisses, and then his lips, and then his other cheek.

“You’re everything.”

“And you’re annoying, let’s go..!” Kiyi said as she pulled on Sokka’s coat. “I wanna go home..!”

The adults laughed, their foreheads pressed against the other’s shoulder.

As they continued to walk towards the car Sokka was constantly feeling the ring on Zuko’s finger. Zuko couldn’t help but love it. He loved feeling it himself too. It felt so surreal to finally actually be engaged. They were actually, properly, for real, engaged right now. How crazy was that?

“We should get you a ring too,” Zuko whispered into his ear so that Kiyi wouldn’t sigh loudly and declare them annoying again.

Sokka grinned almost shyly. It was a look Zuko barely ever got to see and so he drank it in.

“I have an idea of what I want…” Sokka whispered to him. “I just didn’t want to get it made before I got your answer.”

Zuko snorted. “As if you didn’t already know the answer.”

“I mean… Look..!” He held up a finger to stop him from arguing. “I thought I did..! But there was still uncertainty….”

“There isn’t any more, I hope?”

Sokka pulled him against a wall and himself, and then towards his lips, kissing him deeply. “I hope that’s enough of an answer for you.” He said with his eyes fixated on his lips.

Zuko actually did not take that as an answer and still continued to tell him there was nothing to be uncertain about. “You don’t have to be insecure about that at all. I promise I am yours and- if you start singing that darn song I’m going to divorce you..!” He threatened with a single finger close to his face.

Sokka bit his lip and looked away at Kiyi. She grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up.

“Oh would you look at that, Kiyi is giving me permission..!”

Zuko whipped his head around to face her. He moved his single finger over to her and looked sternly. “Neither of you are singing that darn song.” He turned back to Sokka with a sigh.

“…as I was saying… I… I want this. There’s not a doubt in my mind.” He tilted his head and let his gaze linger on his lips until Sokka took the hint and kissed him quickly. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” His eyes were hooded as he said that. Sokka was still so close and he couldn’t wait to kiss him more.

Sokka moved closer until they could feel each other’s lips brush past their own ever so slightly.

“And I want to spend the rest of mine with you.”

They melted into a kiss that was perhaps a tad too passionate for where they were and who they were with but… they were engaged now so who could blame them?

They made sure not to take too long. They knew it wasn’t fair. Poor Kiyi really had two idiots to deal with every single time they took her somewhere.

When they finally backed away they took a hold of each other’s hand and then together with Kiyi they made their way over to the car. Finally.

They drove her home and the moment Ursa opened the door they could all see she was bursting with anticipation.

Zuko threw his hand in her face with a big grin.

“I said yes!”

“Ahh yes!!!” She exclaimed loudly. “I mean of course you did, but yes! I’m so happy for you guys!”

She threw her one free arm around her son and kissed the side of his head.

“Noren!” She called into the house. “He said yes!”

They heard Noren running down the stairs before he appeared in the hallway.

“Well, of course, he did, my dear.”

Zuko blushed a little bit. “Well, yeah…” He shrugged. Somehow it still felt awkward to know that other people just simply _knew_ how he felt about Sokka.

“He was a train wreck,” Kiyi told her parents.

Zuko gasped and Sokka started laughing so much he doubled over. “He was..!”

“He said no first.” Kiyi betrayed her brother.

Ursa gasped at him. “Zuko..! Tell me you didn’t..!”

“Hey! That’s not fair! I told him I loved him! And then he said ‘but…’ and then I said no, as in, there is no but!”

“So you were a train wreck.” Ursa nodded. She looked over at Sokka and shook her head fondly. “Sorry I raised a train wreck.”

Sokka just laughed and shook his head in reply. “No, no you’re all good, I love him just the way he is.” He waved her off.

Noren congratulated them both before excusing himself.

“We should go home and celebrate,” Sokka said as he hung an arm over his shoulder. “We still have half a bottle of wine.” He nodded to himself, and then gasped loudly when he realized something else. “…I think we still have some cheesecake leftover!”

Zuko shot him a look of annoyance, they had already eaten too much at the fair, but then couldn’t help it when he kissed his cheek.

Ursa congratulated them both again, made Kiyi do the same, and then retreated back into the house.

“Congrats again, boys. We’ll see you next week.”

Her and Kiyi waved them off from the kitchen window. The boys drove off while holding hands. It felt odd. They were so light and happy, as if there had been a weight on their shoulders this whole time, even though there hadn’t.

They spent the rest of the entire evening cuddled up on the couch, holding hands and kissing and whispering sweet things to each other. Kiyi would’ve told them it was gross.

“Hey babe, you know what?” Sokka whispered into his hair, his one hand drawing lazy patterns on his chest.

“Hm?” Zuko mumbled. He was getting sleepy. Sokka was so nice and warm and on the inside, he was also feeling nice and warm.

“I was just thinking… No matter what happens in the future…” He paused and Zuko turned to look at him. Sokka readjusted on the couch and Zuko turned further to face him properly.

Sokka was gazing at him. He was gorgeous. He was beautiful and smart and kind and an idiot and so, so much more. He was _everything_. And they were… as crazy as it seemed… actually engaged now.

He reached out for his hand. Zuko placed it in Sokka’s gladly. His fiancée pulled it up to his mouth and he pressed a soft kiss to the ring. Like a promise. I love you. I will always love you. I can’t wait to marry you.

He placed Zuko’s hand over his own heart before looking back up into Zuko’s eye.

“…I will spend my whole life loving you.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. Fully ignoring the fact that they were stinging and filling up with tears. He took in a breath that turned out to be way shakier than he had been going for. He nodded as he chewed on his bottom lip.

“Yes, me too.”

He moved until he could hover over him. Sokka’s hand came up to cup his cheek. He allowed Sokka to pull him in for a kiss, but after only a second he pulled away.

“I love you with all of me, and more.”

They kissed for what seemed like forever. It was warm and calm and beautiful. There was no need for desperation or frantic passion. All they needed was each other, and that was exactly what they already had.

“So one day, huh?” Sokka asked him with a smirk.

“One day.” Zuko agreed. “Soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it. Please let me know your thoughts 💖🥰

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know your thoughts. They give me life! <333


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